MANILA: A man in the central Philippine city of Cebu hacked to death his wife who refused to be embraced, and later tried to commit suicide, according to a news report yesterday. Police said Gregorio Antolihao had tried to hug and kiss his 25-year-old wife, Catalina, who had just taken a bath and was combing her hair in front of a dresser.

But the woman pushed Antolihao away, angering the suspect who took a jungle knife from their kitchen. The man only stopped hacking at his wife when he saw her severed hand and arm on the floor, the report said. Overcome with remorse, Antolihao slashed his wrist in an attempt to kill himself, but shocked neighbours rushed him to a nearby hospital. His condition remained unknown. Police have filed parricide charges against the man. The couple had no children.

Picasso's model

PARIS: Dora Maar, a girlfriend of Pablo Picasso who sat as model for some of his notable pictures, has died in Paris at the age of 90, it was disclosed by her family yesterday, one day before her funeral at Clamart West of Paris. Spanish-born Maar died on July 16. She met Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in 1936 a year after he separated from his wife Olga Koklova. She modelled for his paintings woman crying (femme qui pleure/1937) and woman lying with a book (femme couchee avec UN livre/1939). Woman's head (tete de femme/1939), which showed her, was stolen from a London art gallery in March but soon recovered. Maar photographed Picasso in 1937 as he gradually painted his master work, Guernica, the painting that denounced the cruelty of the 1936-1939 civil war in their homeland.

Hotel for pets

KUALA LUMPUR: Wealthy pet owners in Malaysia will soon be able to go on their holidays with peace of mind, as a five-star hotel for animals is in the offing soon. University Putra Malaysia is looking for a private sector partner to invest in the six million ringit ($2.4 million) project. ``It will be able to cater to a few hundred pets such as dogs, cats, and even horses and will be the first of its kind in the country.

Museum fantasy

NIJMEGEN (Netherlands): A mock-up minefield where the public can imagine what it is like to have their legs blown off is the latest attraction in a Dutch museum devoted to African culture. The floor is modelled as a bumpy field strewn with hidden landmines. If you step on one, loudspeakers emit the sound of an explosion. The exhibition started this week. ``We wanted to show people how every step you take in Angola could be your last'', Johanna Giessen, a spokeswoman for the Netherlands Africa museum at Berg En Dal near Nijmegen said yesterday.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.