CNN Worldwide has appointed three staff members to international reporting beats, moving Atia Abawi to Afghanistan, Stan Grant to the United Arab Emirates and Emily Chang to China. Abawi and Chang have previous experience covering their respective beats, while Grant becomes CNN’s first UAE-based correspondent.

“Revolutionary Road” Oscar nominee Michael Shannon has signed on to co-star in HBO’s upcoming drama pilot “Boardwalk Empire,” from director and producer Martin Scorsese. Shannon will play a Treasury Department agent who’s charged with bootlegging.

Alicia Driskill has been named Midwest sales director at Buddy Media, which creates ad-related social network applications, working out of the company’s new Chicago office. Driskill was previously a Midwest account executive at TVGuide.com.

Mojiva, which helps clients convert web content to mobile, has made two additions, naming Tim Cronin vice president of business development and Julie Preis vice president of product marketing. Cronin was most recently at DoubleClick, while Preis joins from Mixed Signals Technology.

Ben Widdicombe has joined AOL StyleList.com as a contributing editor, where he will cover celebrities and society. Widdicombe was previously an editor at large at Star magazine.

Andrew Seibert has been promoted to president at SmartMoney, a new position at the company. Seibert will continue as vice president and publisher for SmartMoney’s custom solutions, the company’s custom publishing arm.

Bauer Publishing has named Samantha Schoengold Beranbom fashion director for First magazine, effective immediately. Beranbom joins from Redbook, where she was market and sitting editor.

George Clooney isn’t the only big-name actor who will appear on NBC’s “ER” before it ends its run this season. Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon shot scenes for the medical drama with Clooney, an original cast member, last week, according to a report from E! Online. There’s no word on Sarandon’s role or what the plotline is, but the episode is expected to air near the end of the season.

Telepictures Productions, which produces syndicated content, has promoted David Decker to executive vice president of business and legal affairs. Decker had been senior vice president of business and legal affairs since 2004.

Kim Manners, a director and producer of Fox’s “The X-Files,” died last weekend of complications from lung cancer at age 58. Manners, who produced 160 episodes of “X-Files” and directed more than 50, was most recently working on CW’s “Supernatural.”

The Washington Examiner has added Timothy P. Carney to its staff, naming him a columnist. Carney had been editor at the Evans-Novak Political Report.

Charlie Horsey has been promoted to chief operating officer at ‘mktg,’ an alternative marketing firm in New York. Horsey will also continue in his position as division president of ‘mktg’ services.

Public affairs firm Jim Dyke & Associates has named Laura Crawford vice president, effective immediately. Crawford is owner of the ad agency Crawford Creative, which is partnering with Jim Dyke.

Jim Popkin has launched Seven Oaks Media Group, a communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Popkin was most recently senior investigative producer at NBC News.

It turns out actor Mickey Rourke won’t be participating in Wrestlemania 25 in Houston. “The Wrestler” actor last weekend said he would take on WWE’s Chris Jericho at the event in April, but yesterday his spokesperson shot down the idea, saying he’s focusing entirely on his acting career.