Slavyansk / AFP The German and French foreign ministers made their first visit to Ukraine’s war-torn east on Thursday, saying they wanted to push a new bid for peace after a recent surge in violence. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault visited the Donetsk region and viewed a bridge destroyed in fighting between separatist and government forces …

  Brussels / AFP European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday he opposed his predecessor Jose Manuel Barroso’s decision to work for Goldman Sachs because of the firm’s role in the global financial crisis. Barroso’s appointment in July as a non-executive chairman and advisor at the US investment bank has caused a furore in the European Union, with French …

  Bloomberg For all the conveniences that cities have to offer — from shorter commutes to neighborhood farmers markets — many are failing to meet the challenges of sustainable development. North America’s largest cities fare poorly, with not a single one in the Top 20 of the second annual Sustainable Cities Index published by Arcadis, an Amsterdam-based global engineering and …