Regensburg, Germany  - German Catholic theologians expressed shock Tuesday at a threat of discipline by a hardline bishop, in the aftermath of the row over Rome's readmission of Holocaust-denier Richard Williamson.

The initial controversy was triggered by the decision last month of Pope Benedict XVI to end an internal Catholic schism with the ultra-traditionalist group, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).

The SSPX includes British-born Bishop Richard Williamson, who has denied the scale of the Holocaust.

Islamabad  - At least eight people, including two terrorists, were killed and more than a dozen injured as a car bomb exploded in Pakistan's militancy-hit North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on Tuesday, a security official said.

"Six people we killed and 16 people were injured when a bomb fixed with a car parked at Bazid Khel locality of Peshawar, the provincial capital of NWFP, went off," said an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Wellington  - A German woman who flew to New Zealand to meet a man who wooed her on the internet with eloquent emails and poetry told a newspaper Tuesday of her time in a "horror house" with a stranger who was nothing like her online friend.

"He was quite intellectual and he knew the way to my heart," the 36-year-old musician and drama teacher from Leipzig, who identified herself only as Maja, told the Otago Daily Times.

Prague - At least 43 passengers were injured Monday, three of them seriously, when two trains had a head-on collision in the north-eastern Czech Republic, the CTK news agency reported, citing medical officials.

The railways said in a statement that one of the drivers was likely at fault as he ran a red light instead of waiting for a train arriving from the opposite direction.

The train was moving at 40 kilometres per hour when it crashed into the second train, which slammed on the brakes and managed to come to a halt.

Mexico City  - An estimated 500,000 truck and bus drivers in Mexico were on a 24-hour strike starting Monday, demanding the government freeze diesel prices.

Regional authorities in the states most affected by the strike tried to maintain a skeletal bus service so as not to inconvenience commuters. Private buses were allowed to operate as public transport vehicles.

The strike wreaked havoc in many Mexican cities, although it did not affect the bus and truck traffic in the capital, Mexico City.

Johannesburg - In the second case of alleged smuggling by South Africa Airways (SAA) staff in under a month, 15 crew members were arrested in London's Heathrow airport Monday for possession of contraband goods, reports said in South Africa.

A spokeswoman for SAA told the South African Press Association (SAPA) that the 15 detainees - 12 cabin crew and three cockpit crew - were arrested off flight SA234 from Johannesburg after the illegal goods were found in the crew bus. The report did not specify the nature of the goods.