Federal Reserve officials are convening this week for a pivotal meeting under unprecedented circumstances.

At 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, central bankers are expected to announce their first interest rate cut since December to support America’s slowing labor market, with the hopes that President Donald Trump’s expansive tariffs might have only a limited impact on inflation.

But there’s an elephant in the room as officials debate about the US economy: Trump’s aggressive effort to reshape the Fed’s top ranks.

On Monday, the Senate confirmed Stephen Miran, Trump’s top economic adviser, to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors to complete a vacated term that expires at the end of January, but could be extended. Miran has said he won’t commit to resigning when his term ends if a permanent successor hasn’t been named.

After being sworn in on Tuesday morning, Miran is able to cast a vote at this week’s Fed policy meeting.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump tried to fire in late August, will also cast a vote at this week’s meeting. An appeals court on Monday rejected Trump’s attempt to fire Cook while her lawsuit challenging Trump’s removal order moves forward. Cook is the first Fed governor ever to be subject to a firing attempt.

The latest Fed meeting is extraordinary, not just because central bankers are finally pivoting their strategy on interest rates, but also because of the latest developments implicating the Fed’s powerful board — all while the Trump administration continues to pile pressure on the politically independent central bank.

Mounting signs of labor market weakness are a key reason why the Fed is lowering borrowing costs for the first time in nine months, coupled with Fed officials’ growing belief that tariff inflation may be short lived.

Job growth during the summer was anemic: Employers added an average of about 29,000 jobs in the three months ending in August, according to Labor Department data, slightly higher than July’s average, which was the weakest three-month pace since 2010, outside of the pandemic.

There are now more unemployed people seeking work than there are job openings; new applications for jobless benefits in the week ending September 6 rose to the highest level in nearly four years; and in August, the number of people unemployed for more than 26 weeks reached its highest level since November 2021.

A preliminary benchmark revision to employment data for the year ending in March, released last week, showed that the US labor market was on even shakier ground than previously thought heading into the summer.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell laid the groundwork for this week’s rate cut during a high-profile speech in late August, stating that “downside risks to employment are rising.” Other Fed officials have echoed those concerns in recent weeks, though they were first raised prominently by Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, both Trump appointees, who backed a rate cut in July.

Fed officials’ latest economic projections, to be released on Wednesday, will show how aggressively the central bank might lower rates in the coming months with the labor market in a precarious state.

Inflation has crept up in recent months — mostly due to Trump’s sweeping policies, including his tariffs — but Fed officials have warmed up to the idea that any uptick in inflation may be temporary.

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the Labor Department reported last week, in line with economists’ expectations. For months, consumer inflation readings have mostly come in as expected, despite the chaotic rollout of Trump’s tariffs.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly wrote in a recent social media post that “tariff-related price increases will be a one-off.” St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said in a speech earlier this month that he expects “the effects of tariffs will work through the economy over the next two to three quarters and the impact on inflation will fade after that.”

With a weakening labor market and persistent economic jitters, businesses now have less flexibility to raise prices compared to the years after the pandemic, when labor demand was red-hot and Americans’ coffers were flush with pandemic-era stimulus payments and beefed-up savings.

“Inflation has increased since the first quarter, but these numbers include the effects of import tariff increases, which, with inflation expectations anchored, I continue to expect will only temporarily raise inflation,” Waller said during an August 28 speech in Miami.

“Most forecasts are for 12-month inflation to continue to slowly increase for a couple more months, with monthly tariff effects dissipating by early 2026,” he added.

As Fed officials try to make sense of a complicated economic puzzle, the Trump administration continues to pressure the historically independent Fed.

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has repeatedly and publicly lashed out at Powell and the Fed because officials haven’t lowered rates this year. Fed policymakers have held off on rate cuts until this week because they’ve wanted to see how Trump’s policies — and its impacts — play out first.

Trump threatened earlier this year to fire Powell, but eventually backed off after his advisers warned him that doing so could spark extreme volatility in financial markets, CNN previously reported.

In July, the Trump administration seized on the Fed’s ongoing $2.5 billion renovation of its headquarters in Washington, DC, as an opening to fire Powell, claiming it was mismanaged. At one point, Trump and Powell publicly feuded over the total cost of the project.

Now, Trump is trying to oust Cook, citing allegations of mortgage fraud, which the Justice Department is actively investigating. The courts are keeping Cook in her job while her lawsuit challenging Trump’s attempt to oust her moves forward in litigation. New documents reported by the Associated Press show that Cook’s Atlanta condo, which the administration alleges is one of two properties she designated as a primary residence, was declared as a vacation home. Cook has denied any wrongdoing.

While Cook’s position remains in limbo, newly confirmed Fed governor Miran has elicited concerns from Democrats over his close ties with the president. For his part, Miran has said he will abide by ethics rules and federal law, and form independent opinions about the economy.

“I’m very independently minded, as shown by my willingness to stray from consensus and have out-of-consensus views, and I believe that I will continue to be as independent in my thinking process, if confirmed,” Miran said during his confirmation hearing.

Trump has said he wants a majority of Republicans on the Fed’s Board of Governors, and Miran’s confirmation process was swiftly shepherded through, taking only about a month from when he was nominated to when he got sworn in. The process typically takes a couple of months.

Trump’s insistence on lower rates likely sped up that timeline in order to get Miran on the Fed’s board in time for the September meeting. Fed watchers already overwhelmingly expect the Fed to announce at least a quarter-point cut at the conclusion of the meeting, with or without Miran.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Three years ago, Prime Video transported us to Cousins Beach for the very first time and one of the greatest love triangles in TV history was officially born. From the start, The Summer I Turned Pretty divided fans into two passionate factions: Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah. 

For the last three seasons, we’ve watched Belly navigate her complicated feelings for the Fisher brothers. There have been moments along the way for Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah members, but both sides of the fandom have kept hope that in the end, their team would prevail and get its happy ending. We know in the books that it’s Team Conrad who wins out with Belly and Conrad ending up together in the epilogue of the final book in Jenny Han’s hit series, We’ll Always Have Summer. However, Amazon and Han have stirred the pot on many occasions hinting that the show would end differently than the books. 

This gave way for a renewed hope for Team Jeremiah and left Team Conrad to fear that perhaps Belly and Conrad would not be end game in the show. Heading into the series finale, the ship seemed to have sailed on Belly and Jeremiah, while Conrad ended the penultimate episode boarding a plane to Paris in hopes of rekindling his relationship with Belly. So did Conrad and Belly get their happy ending, or did the writers throw a last-minute curveball audiences’ way? 

Read on to find out how exactly The Summer I Turned Pretty came to an end. (Needless to say, spoilers ahead!)

Conrad arrives in Paris and reunites with Belly

The series finale opens with Conrad having arrived in France and landing on Belly’s doorstep. Much to our surprise, when Belly arrives back home she’s not only rocking a new look but she’s still with Benito. Conrad watches on from afar as the pair share a kiss before Benito rides off. 

Having come all this way, Conrad goes up to Belly and she’s stunned to see him. Rather than professing his feelings as he intended when he jumped on the plane, he plays it off that he just happened to be in the area and wanted to celebrate her birthday before his conference in Brussels. Clearly shaken by seeing Conrad for the first time since that night at the airport before she left for Paris, Belly agrees to show him around for the day before her plans in the evening. 

When she drops his bag in her apartment, it’s clear her old feelings begin to come back as she applies lipstick and asks herself what she’s doing before assuring herself she’ll simply play tour guide and then send him off to Brussels. 

The pair embark on a day in the city and we get a really sweet montage of the pair’s journey through Paris. As they walk through the corridors of a museum, he admits to spending a lot of time thinking about her life in Paris and tells Belly he wishes he could see the city the way she does, which gives her an idea as they head out.

She ends up taking him to a rooftop she used to frequent often with breathtaking views of the city. As they look around, Belly tells Conrad about how when she first got to Paris and was figuring things out the manager of bar she was working at told her about the rooftop. The view just helped things to finally click for Belly with the way it all comes together beautifully, which Conrad equates to the human body in how when you take a step back it’s miraculous seeing how everything together works together. 

Conrad points out that Belly seems comfortable in Paris and she admits it took some time to adjust and struggled to do the simplest of things like figuring out the difference between laundry detergent and dish soap. There so many times she felt like a complete idiot, but then she came up to the rooftop one day to watch the sun rise and remembered something Conrad had told her years ago about the first time he saw the Pacific. How it felt like standing on another planet where anything felt possible, and Paris has been that for her. 

He assures Belly that he never doubted she could do it. She’s always been scrappy and never been one to back down from a challenge. Paris never stood a chance. Caught up in the moment, Belly invites Conrad to take a later train and join her for the birthday dinner.

Steven and Denise are moving to California to start their new company

Back in the states, Jeremiah is gearing up for an important dinner arranged by Taylor. He’s excited about the opportunity, but also feeling overwhelmed. As he tells Denise about Conrad going to Paris to see Belly, he begins to talk about finding a new couch for their apartment which is when Denise drops an unexpected bit of news on his plate. 

It turns out that she and Steven secured the seed money for their company, but it was contingent upon them both moving to San Francisco. It seems that Steven hasn’t told the news to Taylor and Denise swears Jeremiah to secrecy, only to find out that Taylor heard the whole conversation. 

As Taylor spirals about Steven keeping this from her, Taylor also is dealing with the fact that the venue she booked for Jeremiah’s dinner is dealing with flooding. Denise suggests the beach house and Jeremiah agrees to move the dinner, marking the first time he’ll be back to the house since the events of his wedding. 

We jump ahead to Denise, Taylor and Jeremiah getting things ready for the dinner, and Steven arrives with supplies. Rather than confronting him directly, Taylor lays it on thick talking about their future clearly hoping he’ll come clean. When he doesn’t she storms off leaving him speechless.

Do Belly and Benito breakup? 

As we return to Paris, Conrad is getting ready for Belly’s birthday dinner and begins to take a look around her apartment including the many photos of Benito. He also spots Junior Mint and remembers the moment he won the bear for Belly all those years ago. Enter Belly who looks stunning in her little black dress, leaving Conrad speechless. He helps her with her bracelet and she returns the favor by playfully ruffling his hair before they head out. 

When they get to the party, Gemma and her friends make a comment that clues us in on the fact that Belly might not be seeing Benito after all when they mention how she moved on fast. Before we can process the line, Benito arrives and pulls her away to give her his present: a photograph he took of Belly in bed. 

At dinner, Benito and Belly seem to give couple vibes sitting together at one end of the table as Conrad sits among Belly’s friends. Gemma tells Conrad she thinks what he did was romantic, professing his love for Belly before the wedding and they liken the story to something out of a movie. This is when Benito chime in that in the movie Conrad was the villain, to which Belly says if anyone was the villain, it was her. Benito then asks why he’s in Paris and he’s giving serious jealous boyfriend vibes until we learn that Belly actually dumped Benito six weeks ago! 

That’s right, it seems Belly broke up with Benito before Conrad’s arrival when she declined his invitation to go Mexico for his grandma’s birthday.

As the dinner continues, Conrad asks about Benito being her boyfriend to which she points out that she never said he was. The night continues and Conrad finally gives Belly her gift: sand from Cousins Beach which he collected on the Fourth of July that summer. He knew he wasn’t going to be back for a long time and so whenever he missed home he’s take the bottle of sand out and it’d make him feel closer to everyone, he thought that since she might not be back for a while she might like to have it. She thanks Conrad with a sweet kiss on the cheek as her friends bring out her birthday cake for her to make a wish. 

Do Steven and Taylor end up together? 

Back in Cousins, Jeremiah’s dinner keeps hitting one snag after another. Taylor is working to help make things go as smoothly as possible, but he’s also dealing with the Steven news. That’s when Jeremiah clues his friend in on the fact that Taylor knows about Califnornia and suddenly her behavior makes sense to Steven. 

As if the pressure of the dinner weren’t high enough, Adam arrives with some champagne from Jeremiah’s wedding and he begins to spiral about whether the beach house is cursed. As Jeremiah spirals, Denise helps ground him with a sweet pep talk and it seemed like the pair were about to kiss before she hit him with a friendly shoulder punch instead. 

After kicking Steven and Taylor out of his kitchen to focus on the preparation of the food, the pair finally clear the air outside as Steven admits he can’t imagine a future without Taylor. He explains he hadn’t asked her to move as it didn’t feel fright to ask her to uproot her life again to follow him to another city. The conversation ends with Taylor agreeing to move to California as they share a kiss and we’re so happy the pair are destined to get their happy ending. 

Conrad reminds Belly she’s not the villain in this story

After the party, Conrad and Belly take a romantic – yes, I’m calling it as I see it – stroll. He admits to her that he thought Belly came to Paris to hide from everything that happened. He admits that he wanted to believe it was temporary, that she’d forgive herself and come home; however, he sees that she wasn’t hiding out and made an amazing life, one he’s happy he got to see. 

Belly admits that he’s not wrong. She was hiding out at first. It was hard and lonely and she did think she deserved that. Conrad reminds her she’s not the villain, but she’s not so sure of that pointing out how she broke up his family and came between him and Jeremiah. 

Conrad assures Belly it wasn’t on her to keep their family together and they weren’t trying to hurt each other. He then proceeds to let her know that Jeremiah knows he’s there in Paris and is okay with that, even wishing him good luck before he left. He tells Belly that he likes being under the same moon as her again and just as it seems he’s about to come clean about his feelings, she cuts him off and tells him there’s one more place she wants to take him.

Belly and Conrad hook up in Paris, but the night ends with a twist

Belly take Conrad to the riverfront and he asks her to dance with him. She asks if he remembers the last time they danced, which he admits was not his finest moment. Belly admits she envisioned this perfect prom movie where they’d dance the night away, but instead he yelled at her in the rain and ran off. The two laugh it off as Conrad remembers when she told him to f*ck off at his mom’s funeral. 

As Belly leans into Conrad’s chest, she admits that his letters kept her going. Whenever she was lonely and missed home, she’d sit and read them, over and over. He asks her why it took so long to write back and she admits she had to move on first. He asks if she’s moved on and silence fills the air before she pulls Conrad in for a kiss. That kiss quickly evolves into something more as they take things back to her apartment and take to the bedroom. 

After a passionate night together, Belly admits to him that she used to wish for him on her birthday but the pillow talk quickly takes an unpleasant turn as Belly suggests he shouldn’t miss his train and the conference. 

Belly asks Conrad what his plan was and he says he wanted to tell her that he loves her and that he wanted to know if any part of her still loved him. She admits she’s always loved him, which is the problem. How are they supposed to know if they love each other because they love each other or because they were told to. She questions whether if Susannah hadn’t gotten sick again, would they have ever gotten together. If they didn’t lose Susannah, would it loom so large for them? What if he only loves her because its what his mom wanted and then his mom died? 

Conrad assures her that’s not why he loves her. He has tried everything not to love her for the sake of Jeremiah and not dragging her down in grief. He fought it way before his mom got sick, as she’s always been important to him. At one point, he started to see her differently and that scared him because he didn’t want things to change and that the way he feels about her has nothing to do with his mom. While he’s changed a million things about himself, the one thing that has never changed is that he love her. 

Belly wishes she could be as sure as him, but she can’t as she sends him away. 

Do Belly and Conrad end up together in The Summer I Turned Pretty?

After sending him away, Belly quickly realizes just how wrong she was. She’s always loved Conrad, and that’s never changed. 

Belly races to the window and tries to call out for him, but he’s already gone. She races out to the street and hails a cab. Racing through the train station, Belly eventually boards the train to Brussels and begins frantically searching for him on the train cars. 

Then it happens, she finds him. 

“I choose you of my own free will. If there are infinite worlds, every version of me chooses you in every one of them,” Belly professes, finally embracing the love she’s always had for Conrad. The pair exchange I love yous and we flash back to the beach house where Jeremiah and the family are celebrating after a successful dinner. 

As the show comes to an end, we jump ahead an unspecified time as Belly and Conrad finally return home from Paris to the place where it all began: the beach house. The pair roll into the driveway and walk through the door together, we watch the happy couple head to the backyard as the camera zooms out before finally fading to black.

Odds and Ends

• Jeremiah’s dinner works out, but more importantly he and Denise share a sweet kiss hinting their relationship will evolve into something more.
• Belly’s dad does not die as so many fans feared.
• Adam finally tells Jeremiah just how proud he is of him.

Screen icon Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor, director, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, has died at the age of 89.

The news was confirmed in a statement by his publicist, Cindi Berger, who said he died in his sleep “surrounded by those he loved,” at his home in Utah. A cause of death was not disclosed.

Redford shot to global fame opposite Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and went on to deliver acclaimed performances in The Sting (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and All the President’s Men (1976), among many others.

He made his directorial debut with Ordinary People (1980), which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Beyond his work on screen, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, which launched the Sundance Film Festival — now the largest and most influential celebration of independent film in the United States.

He is survived by his two daughters, Shauna and Amy, and his wife, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, the 68-year-old German-born multimedia artist whose environmental work as been exhibited around the world.

He had four children with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen. One son, Scott, died of sudden death syndrome when he was just 10 weeks old. David died from cancer in 2020 at the age of 58.

Hailed as Hollywood’s former golden boy, tributes have poured in for the late star.

Follow live updates below

Robert Redford remembered for his deep legacy in environmental activism and Native American advocacy

Redford, who died Tuesday at age 89, was hardly the only liberal activist to emerge out of Hollywood, but few matched his knowledge and focus, his humility and dedication. Fellow actors and leaders of the causes he fought for spoke of his unusually deep legacy, his fight for Native Americans and the environment that began at the height of his stardom.

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 09:30

Sundance Institute reflects on Robert Redford’s lasting legacy

The Sundance Institute mourned the loss of its founder, Robert Redford, in a statement that highlighted his contribution to cinema.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford. Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the US and around the world,” the non-profit shared on Tuesday.

“Beyond his enormous contributions to culture at large, we will miss his generosity, clarity of purpose, curiosity, rebellious spirit and his love for the creative process. We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 09:15

Remembering Robert Redford in photos: the life of the Oscar-winning director and activist

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 09:00

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: How Robert Redford and Paul Newman captured Hollywood’s greatest outlaws

The multiple Oscar-winning Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a groundbreaking revisionist western, with Paul Newman and the late Robert Redford giving a timeless portrayal of a pair of law-breaking adventurers in one of Hollywood’s greatest examples of the “buddy film”.

Although William Goldman was convinced his film script about two American outlaws who fled a posse of Pinkerton detectives and escaped to Bolivia had the potential to be a blockbuster hit, the initial response was disheartening. “Every studio but one rejected it,” Goldman recalled in The Reluctant Storyteller. “One studio head said, ‘Well, I’ll buy it if they don’t go to South America.’ I said, ‘But they went there!’ He said, ‘I don’t give a s***. All I know is John Wayne don’t run away.’”

The true story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The 1969 movie wasn’t an immediate success with critics, yet it charmed the public. As Robert Redford dies aged 89, Martin Chilton tells the tale of one of Hollywood’s best buddy films and the two outlaws who inspired it

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 08:30

Marisa Tomei on Redford: ‘He showed up for the world’

Marisa Tomei shared a heartfelt tribute to Robert Redford, calling him “the Sundance Kid, waving one last time.”

Tomei recalled a moment from early in Ms. Magazine’s history, when Redford’s PR office shared a building with the publication. “He volunteered his gorgeous back for their Oct ’75 cover, knowing the attention would help,” she wrote.

“Always lending his weight to something bigger than himself,” Tomei added. “A legend in every sense.

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 08:15

Classic films, pranks and a crushed Porsche: Robert Redford and Paul Newman’s rare friendship

Robert Redford and Paul Newman enjoyed a “bromance” long before the word had even been coined. Here’s a look back at their storied friendship – and the sports cars they crushed into a cube along the way:

Kevin Perry17 September 2025 07:56

Journalist Bob Woodward remembers Robert Redford as a fierce storyteller and friend

Bob Woodward paid tribute to Robert Redford on Instagram, looking back on their long connection.

Redford famously portrayed Woodward in the 1976 film All the President’s Men, and the two remained close over the years.

“He will be remembered as one of the greatest storytellers in our country’s history,” Woodward wrote. “He elevated stories beyond mainstream. He not only cared about the environment, but he took all conceivable actions to protect it.”

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 07:45

Robert Redford: 11 of his most memorable performances and where to watch them

Redford died Tuesday at 89, leaving behind an arsenal of great roles that he owned, whether he was playing a quiet CIA agent, a con man, a baseball player, a grizzled mariner, an ambitious journalist, or a charming WASP in love. His very last role came this year, a cameo in Dark Winds, the AMC show about Navajo police officers he produced.

This is a list of some of Redford’s most memorable performances, but don’t forget about the films he directed, too: among them are the all-timers Ordinary People ( streaming on MGM+ ), which won him the best director Oscar, and Quiz Show (rent on AppleTV+ ), which got him another nod.

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 07:31

Hillary Clinton honours ‘American icon’ Robert Redford

Hilary Clinton honoured Robert Redford with a post on Instagram, reflecting on his career and the lasting impact he made beyond film.

“I always admired Robert Redford, not only for his legendary career as an actor and director but for what came next,” she wrote.

“He championed progressive values like protecting the environment and access to the arts while creating opportunities for new generations of activists and filmmakers. A true American icon.”

Shahana Yasmin17 September 2025 07:15

Joe Mantegna remembers Redford as a co-star and ‘role model’

Joe Mantegna, the character actor known for appearing in The Godfather Part III and voicing Fat Tony in The Simpsons, fondly recalled working with Redford.

He wrote on X: “How lucky was I to be able to share the screen in 1996 with Robert Redford in Up Close and Personal. He was a role model not just as an actor but as a human being.”

Kevin Perry17 September 2025 07:00