The euro rallied on Friday on rising prospects that German parties will agree a historic fiscal deal that could boost defence spending and revive growth in Europe’s largest economy. The data is one important input into the Bank of Japan’s decision making. German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz reached an agreement with the Greens on Friday for a massive increase in state borrowing ahead of a parliamentary vote next week, a source close to the negotiations said. The Japanese currency, which scaled a five-month peak earlier this week at 146.545 per dollar on safe-haven bids and market bets for further rate hikes in Japan, lost some ground to trade as weak as 149.02 a dollar on Friday. Rengo, the country’s largest union umbrella, had sought an average hike of 6.09% this year. Worries around Germany’s ability to pass the enormous increase in state borrowing had capped the euro’s gains in the past two days. Sterling (Click In this article) was last down 0.1% at $1.29385. Economists and markets see the central bank standing pat at its meeting next week as policymakers gauge global risks. Another underperformer on Friday was the British pound after the British economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.1% in January. The dollar was last up 0.6% at 148.715 yen. It had risen after top U.S. Japanese companies agreed to raise wages by 5.46% this year, topping both last year’s preliminary and final figures and likely marking the highest pay hike in 34 years. Against the pound, the euro gained 0.5% to 84.19 pence and rose 0.7% to 0.9637 against the Swiss franc. The euro rose 0.49% to $1.0902. Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone. Merz has been racing to persuade the outgoing German parliament to approve a 500 billion euro fund for infrastructure and sweeping changes to borrowing rules. Elsewhere, the yen weakened on Friday after union wage talks in Japan concluded and the pound edged lower as British economic growth faltered, with investors also processing trade tensions and slowdown concerns. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer on Thursday said he would vote to advance a Republican stopgap funding bill, signalling that his party would provide the votes to avert a government shutdown. But still, the British currency was not far off its four-month peak of $1.2990 hit on Wednesday. Lee Hardman senior currency analyst at MUFG.

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Talkback titan Ray Hadley farewelled Nine’s flagship Sydney station 2GB after two decades behind the mic at his top-rating morning show last month after he announced he was resigning from radio after 43 years in the industry. O’Keefe told listeners he had been wrestling with the decision to quit for months before finally deciding it was time ‘to move on’ and resigning from the station – and journalism completely – in December. Within hours of Hadley wrapping up at the station on the final day of the ratings season, the station’s hard-hitting drivetime host Chris O’Keefe stunned listeners be revealing he was quitting effective immediately. Clinton is a talk radio specialist – he has dedicated his life and career to the medium and knows how to tell a story, entertain and connect with audiences,’ he said. Station veteran John Stanley will fill in for Maynard for a week before takes the reigns as the host of the eponymous Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard show from on 27 January. 2GB Content Manager Luke Davis said that, in the end, Maynard was the obvious option for the coveted timeslot. Maynard joined the 2GB’s sister station and one-time rival 2UE as a cadet journalist in 1997 before going on to cover the crime and politics rounds and eventually being promoted to news and content director. Popular Wide World of Sports presenter Mark Levy was given the challenge of taking over from Hadley while sports reporter Adam Hawse was promoted into his old job. Speculation surrounding O’Keefe’s replacement has run rampant over the summer break with names such as former 2GB wunderkind Jason Morrison and The Daily Telegraph’s James Willis also touted as potential options. The surprise exits set off a major reshuffle within the radio powerhouse as the network’s executives scrambled to install new hosts . As a presenter, he has hosted News Talk programs on 2UE, Macquarie Sports Radio and 2GB, where most recently he has been the Weekday Overnights host and the regular fill-in presenter on 2GB Drive.

The father-of-one said he was looking forward to spending more time with wife Fox League presenter Yvonne Sampson and two-year-old son Henry, and wanted to offer his own family the same care and attention he received growing up. It’s been 12 years and it feels like it’s been five minutes. And, look, I would be nothing without my wife, Vonny. O’Keefe, who cut his teeth as a television producer with Channel Ten before being poached by Nine’s Gold Coast bureau, said he would still have some involvement with the media moving forward after deciding to set up his own political and media advocacy firm. Vonny has taught me a resilience that I didn’t know I had in me. That’s gotta be the mark of a great relationship, right? She is easily the most talented and respected sports broadcaster in Australia, but people don’t know the half of it. And every step of our lives together she has celebrated and supported our successes. I often think I wish I could be the parent that Mum and Dad were to me – but I realise that is a very high bar, because they are just so good. Personally, I just want to thank my mum and dad Shellie and Greg who instilled a work ethic and decency into my sister Lauren and I, which has allowed us to do what we do,’ he told his listeners. My God I am lucky. Her resilience and kindness is other worldly. She is the most extraordinary human being. It’s funny we got together when I was a cub reporter, and Vonny hadn’t started doing the rugby league broadcasts.

Bland ahoy, Captain Jack! In the first two Pirates movies, Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow was a chirpy trickster; one of the silver screen’s most iconic scoundrels since Han Solo. They had a sense of humour that poked fun at old pirate sagas such as The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood and The Crimson Pirate, but reproduced their cliches in loving detail. The first two Pirates Of The Caribbean films were exuberant swashbucklers that married traditional Errol Flynn-style heroics to modern digital effects. They spawned a $2.6 billion franchise so popular that even the third of the series – a huge disappointment and a storytelling disaster – turned a handsome profit, becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of all time. Rob Marshall directs even more anonymously than his predecessor, Gore Verbinski. The film as a whole is not as incomprehensible as the third Pirates film, but it’s every bit as tedious, with vast gobs of exposition delivered by actors who deserve better, and hardly any attempts by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio to supply recognisable human motivation. I distinctly remember hailing this as a great comic performance, and the first Pirates movie even won Depp an Oscar nomination. There is none of the panache that Marshall brought to Chicago. Like the oceans it sails, it’s unfathomable. At the fourth time of asking, however, he minces and flounces with no light behind the eyes, as though his mind is on his next assignation with Tim Burton. Depp and Cruz don’t strike sparks off each other, even though they are meant to be old flames. The film leaves them looking old, wet and exhausted. But not even this has the flair of similar scenes in the first two Pirates movies. Since virtually nothing happens that demands emotional or intelligent involvement, the picture affords plenty of opportunities to check how it looks without 3D glasses. As his romantic interest, Penelope Cruz manages to be neither romantic nor interesting. Most of it is better without, since the specs only darken the images and make the characters look like cardboard cut-outs – an impression deepened by the shockingly poor dialogue and feeble characterisation. The fourth of the franchise defies criticism, since quality is clearly irrelevant to its success or otherwise, but it is loud, bombastic – and extravagantly boring. She looks feisty and Spanish, and evidently thinks this is enough. Although the shortest Pirates sequel yet, it feels painfully long; 136 minutes is a hellishly bloated running time for a movie with no characters to root for, a story with no depth or interesting twists, and 3D gimmickry that seems to have been added as an afterthought. The film reeks of contempt for its audience. Utterly lacking the romance and charm of the first two pictures, it’s soulless and corporate, generating zero interest in any of its characters. The only moments when the film comes alive are during a couple of action sequences, notably one when mermaids attack like a school of murderous mackerel. The leads may all be after the fountain of eternal youth, but they might be better advised to pursue early retirement.