LOS ANGELES - CITING division among its membership, the Screen Actors Guild delayed a vote that would authorise the union to call a strike and bring the entertainment business to a halt.

SAG announced on Monday it would delay sending out the ballots until Jan 14 at the earliest, after the union's national board holds an emergency meeting. The union initially planned to send strike authorisation ballots to more than 100,000 union members on Jan 2, a date that would have put Oscar night on Feb 22 within reach of a potential boycott.

HONG KONG - HONG Kong comedian Stephen Chow said he will no longer direct the Hollywood adaptation of The Green Hornet and may not star as Kato, a character made famous by Bruce Lee in the short-lived TV series.

OBERNDORF (Austria) - BORN on a cold night in the chapel of a small Austrian village, Silent Night, the world's most famous Christmas carol, is celebrating its 190th anniversary.