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(AP) Actors who provide voices for video game characters will vote on whether to accept a new contract with producers which increases wages but does not pay residuals on the most popular games.

The Screen Actors Guild national board voted Wednesday to hold a referendum on the contract, which was previously rejected by its executive committee. Ballots will be mailed to the approximately 1,900 SAG members who work in video games.

Actors currently are paid a minimum of $556 per four-hour work session and are often required to voice more than one character per session. The new 3½-year agreement would increase the rate to $759 by 2008, with an immediate 25 percent increase to $695.

Voice actors have worked under a contract with game publishers since 1993. But now that video games generate nearly as much revenue as domestic movie ticket sales, actors say they want a piece of every game sold rather than one-time, upfront fees.

Actors also want extra money when a game sells more than 400,000 units. But game producers have balked at providing residuals, arguing that people don't buy games because of the actors who appear in them. 

LBRUSSELS (Reuters) - A lunch meeting between a leading parliamentarian in Belgium and counterparts from Iran has been canceled because the beer-loving Belgian could not stomach a ban on alcohol.

"Even for the tolerant Herman De Croo, that was a bridge too far," De Croo, a Dutch-speaking Liberal, told De Standaard daily Thursday.

De Croo, president of parliament's lower house, had been due to entertain the speaker and members of the Iranian parliament Friday during their visit to Belgium -- famous for its diversity of beer brands.

But he said lunch had been canceled because the Iranians, who as Muslims do not drink alcohol, wanted their hosts to do the same.

"I did not receive such demands in writing. But ... I was indirectly asked not to serve alcohol," said De Croo.

The visit ran into further trouble after Iran's parliament speaker Gholamali Haddadadel insisted he would not shake hands with the female president of Belgium's Senate.

Anne-Marie Lizin, a Socialist, then canceled their meeting. She said in a statement that Iranians should respect local customs in Belgium, just as Belgians should in Iran.