Marriage ‘Terminated’

For more than 25 years,their marriage looked set for a happily-ever-after. But on Monday evening,actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzeneger and his wife Maria Shriver announced their separation in Los Angeles. “This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us,” Schwarzenegger,63,and Shriver,55,said in a statement. They had been married for 26 years. They did not indicate whether they would seek a divorce,but said they were living separately “while we work on the future of our relationship”.

The couple lived in their home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles during his two terms as California Governor,with Schwarzenegger commuting by jet to the state capital in Sacramento. Shriver,an author and former journalist,is active with a number of volunteer organisations. Schwarzeneger is also likely to star in a new Terminator movie that would reprise his most famous screen role as the virtually indestructible cyborg.