Stars urge SAG leaders to begin talks to avoid strike

Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro have taken out newspaper advertisements appealing to leaders of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to start talks with movie studios in a bid to avert a possible strike.

SAG members will reportedly hold a mass walk-out this summer after their current contract expires on June 30 if negotiations with studio bosses over pay and conditions do not prove fruitful.