Bloomberg As the European Union pushes for a new role in military matters, the bloc has thrust its development bank into the center of a policy struggle that reveals an old fissure over the very nature of the EU project. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is getting prodded to be bolder about lending to defense companies by a France-led group …

Bloomberg After delaying spending on its fleet for too long during a turnaround program, Qantas Airways Ltd. faces a possible funding squeeze when it’s time to buy new planes, according to S&P Global Ratings. The Australian flag carrier needs to increase investment in its aging fleet of 309 planes before the sum required is too large to handle, S&P said …

Bloomberg UK retail sales barely grew in January, more evidence consumers are reluctant to splash out amid a squeeze from rising prices. Sales increased 0.1 percent from December, far below the 0.5 percent gain forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey. From a year earlier, sales rose 1.6 percent, the weakest for a January in four years, the Office for …