New York City mayor wants smoking ban for public places, American Airlines wants to cut another 1,200 jobs

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made it his mission to ban smoking from public places, including beaches, parks, restaurants, bars, and even Times Square. Apartments will be his next smoke-free target. Bloomberg gave his assurance in a press conference that he has no intention of an outright ban, saying, "We're not trying to ban anything. I've always believed, as you know, that if you want to smoke I think you should have a right to do so. But it kills you."

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American, the nation's third-biggest airline, has about 73,000 workers. And now the company wants to eliminate 1,200 nonunion jobs as it cuts costs while under bankruptcy protection. It announced plans in February to cut 13,000 union pilots, flight attendants and ground workers. Obama definitely doesn't want to hear about this news.

Gavin DeGraw exits from Dancing With The Stars, Angelina Jolie named special UN refugee envoy

Singer Gavin DeGraw and his professional partner, Karina Smirnoff, were bounced from the ABC show Tuesday after the judges' scores were combined with viewers' votes. Gavin DeGraw’s soulful voice didn’t help with his clumsy footwork on this season of the dancing competition and the “Chariot” singer was sent packing just five weeks into the competition.

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The United Nations refugee agency has elevated Hollywood star Angelina Jolie from being a goodwill ambassador to a special envoy, a role that will see her represent the organization to governments and diplomats. The "Wanted" actress is expected to deal with complex emergencies and protracted crises including Afghanistan and Somalia that have driven millions of refugees into neighboring countries where they remain for years due to the lack of a political solution.

Business News: Alcoa surprises Wall Street, February job openings rise

Alcoa, which makes aluminum for aircraft, cars and beverage cans, raised its 2012 global growth forecast for the aerospace market by 3 percentage points to 13-14 percent and said it expects global growth in the auto industry of 3-7 percent. The company surprised Wall Street with a first-quarter profit after a loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 as global markets improved, especially in the aerospace and automobile sectors.

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The U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday the number of U.S. jobs waiting to be filled rose by 21,000 in February to 3.498 million. The number of unemployed American workers for every job opening fell in February to its lowest since late 2008, pointing to ongoing healing in the still-weak labor market.