The Stateside Beat — Afternoon Update · 2026-10-13

Good afternoon — here is the Afternoon Update audio brief for Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Tap play above to listen with slides and subtitles. Here's what happened:

Kimberly Guilfoyle resigns as U.S. ambassador to Greece

The White House confirmed Tuesday that President Trump asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to step down as U.S. ambassador to Greece, and she agreed to resign. The move came after a report that Guilfoyle had asked a donor to pay a $100,000 credit card bill — the latest in a string of controversies that shadowed her tenure in Athens. Multiple outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, confirmed the resignation request within hours of the report. It's a swift and unceremonious end to a marquee diplomatic posting, and it hands Democrats a fresh talking point as midterm season intensifies.

One dead, several others hurt on Six Flags rollercoaster in Georgia

One person is dead and several others were injured after an incident on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Witnesses described a horrifying scene, with riders left stuck on the ride as emergency crews responded. The person who died was a man, according to local reports. In response, Six Flags has closed similar rides across the U.S. and Canada while investigators work to determine what went wrong. The incident raises fresh questions about ride safety standards at major amusement parks heading into the industry's critical Halloween-season stretch.

Five things to watch after Trump's Russian diesel deal

President Trump's surprise deal to import Russian diesel — a temporary rollback of sanctions aimed at taming fuel prices — is running into a wall of opposition. CNBC reports the volume involved equals less than two weeks of U.S. demand, undercutting the pitch that it will meaningfully lower prices at the pump. The Washington Post notes stiff bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill, while The New York Times reports the U.K. and Europe are recoiling from any warming toward Moscow while its invasion of Ukraine continues. The deal sets up a direct clash between the administration's energy-cost priorities and its sanctions strategy.

Higher interest rates take a bite out of the banking picture — but lending income holds up

Wall Street parsed a deluge of quarterly results from the biggest U.S. banks on Tuesday. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citi all reported, and Bloomberg notes that higher rates turbocharged lending income — even as stubborn inflation weighs on housing and borrowing costs for ordinary consumers. JPMorgan's profits felt the bite of the rate environment, while Wells Fargo's results showed consumers still holding up. Separately, UnitedHealth beat Wall Street estimates with adjusted earnings of $4.69 a share versus the $4.14 analysts expected, per Barron's, and raised its profit forecast as its turnaround continues — the insurer posted a $4 billion profit, according to the Star Tribune.

Pennsylvania announces sixth death in measles outbreak as case numbers rise

Pennsylvania's measles outbreak has now claimed a sixth life — a 39-year-old unvaccinated woman, according to Ars Technica — as cases in the state climbed above 1,100, with 1,137 reported. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency in response to the virus's spread across rural parts of New York, and Gothamist reports the state's health commissioner said it "didn't have to be this way." Nationwide, measles cases have grown over 4,000 this year. Public health officials are urging vaccination as the outbreak stretches into fall.

11 sailors missing after drone sinks ships in Black Sea

Drones struck two ships in the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria, sinking one and leaving eleven sailors missing at sea, according to Bulgarian officials and rescue operations now underway. The Wall Street Journal frames the strikes — occurring near NATO waters — as a fresh test for the alliance, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has summoned the Russian ambassador. It is possibly the second deadly drone attack near NATO territory, underscoring how the war in Ukraine keeps edging closer to alliance borders.

Sources

The Stateside Beat Audio · 2026-10-13 · afternoon · Narrated edition, compiled from Politico, BBC, Axios, The New York Times, The Guardian, NBC News, CNBC, Bloomberg, Barron's and Star Tribune.