New York, March 15 : American actor Mickey Rourke has bagged yet another good role as the Russian villain in `Iron Man 2', after being nominated for an Oscar for his work in the film `The Wrestler'.

A report published by the website deadlinehollywooddaily. com says that the producers had earlier offered Rourke just 250,000 dollars for this role.

However, they significantly increased the money offer after Rourke's agent, David Unger, played hardball.

According to the New York Post, Rourke was also being considered for a villainous role in Sony's `Spider-Man 4'.

Rourke has also been offered a role by Sylvester Stallone in the fifth `Rambo' film.

New York, Mar 14 : Actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix's fight in a Miami nightclub on March 11 was reportedly staged for a documentary by his brother-in-law.

A video showing Phoenix jumping into the crowd to attack a heckler at the gig is said to be a total fake, which has been staged for Casey Affleck's documentary on the actor's new career as a rapper.

The fight took place during his performance at a Belvedere IX party at Liv nightclub.

New York, Mar. 14 : The Pak-American Society is gathering in New York on Saturday to stage a protest against the ban on Geo News transmission in Pakistan.

"This is a dictatorial act perpetrated by a so called civilian government," The News quoted Pak-American Society President Sham-us-Zaman, as saying.

Many prominent politicians and lawyers, including Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Imran Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd, are expected to address the protest gathering.

Later, a conference by the name `Geo and Jeevay Pakistan' will be held here which will be addressed through telephone by PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, former President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Aitzaz Ahmed and PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal.

New York, March 14 : Michelle Obama has her mother to thank for keeping their First Family grounded.

The First Lady revealed she could not determine the contribution made by Marian Robinson and was ever so grateful for helping the family cope with their changed lifestyle in the White House.

"It''s immeasurable. I think that all of our transition has been eased by her presence," the New York Daily News quoted her as saying on ''Good Morning America'.

New York  - A day after disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to masterminding a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, his lawyers Friday requested that the court release him from jail until his sentencing June 16.

Madoff, 70, was led off in handcuffs to jail Thursday after his plea before the lower Manhattan federal court to all 11 criminal counts. He could be sentenced to 150 years in jail for one of the largest financial swindles in history.

New York  - Wall Street stock indices continued a nearly week-long rally on Friday, capping the best week since November amid some signs that the global economy may be stabilizing.

The rally followed gains in global markets as some major US banks have posted unexpected gains in the first two months of the year. The heads of Citigroup Inc, Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co said this week that they were profitable at the start of 2009.