5 Things for Friday, October 14: It’s getting tense in here…

A major death, and a celebration of life that one country has been hoping for for two years. It’s Friday, and here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.

1. Campaign 2016

There’s been plenty of “October surprises,” but we totally didn’t expect Michelle Obama to be one of them. Her impassioned speech denouncing Donald Trump’s treatment of women had people going nuts. Oh, and new swing state polls show Trump’s path to the White House is getting preeetty narrow. Clinton has her own woes: faith leaders are unhappy that hacked e-mails seem to show her campaign trivializing religion. 

2. Thailand

Thailand’s in intense mourning and quite a bit of uncertainty after King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death. The 88-year-old king was on the throne for 70 years – the longest-reigning monarch at the time of his death. The question now is, who’s in charge of the kingdom? 

3. Chibok girls

Remember the more than 200 Nigerian girls and women whose kidnapping at the hands of Boko Haram in 2014 spurred international outrage and the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls? Well, 21 of them have been freed by the terrorist group, along with a baby boy. Nigerian leaders are hopeful their safe return can pave the way for even more girls to come back home.

4. Syria

Despite the obvious humanitarian crisis unfolding there, President Bashar al-Assad claims Aleppo is a “springboard” to “liberate” other areas and push “terrorists” out of the country. That’s a lot of scare quotes, and for good reason: The whole thing obviously angers international leaders, and the US says the constant airstrikes hammering the city should be investigated as war crimes.  

5. Yemen

Some rumblings off the coast of Yemen: An American destroyer struck three sites in the country, hours after missiles targeted a US warship for the second time in four days. There was a lot of posturing and threats from both sides, but the US response was clear: You do NOT want to mess with us. The missiles came from a minority Shia group embroiled in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. 

Breakfast Browse

People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.

Bob Dylan gets Nobel Prize for Literature 

But not everyone’s thrilled the man behind the masterpiece “Wiggle Wiggle” was awarded such a high-brow honor. 

911 dispatcher hangs up, says ‘no one has time for this’

Um, as a 911 dispatcher, isn’t that literally what your time is for?

Debate spirit animal Ken Bone has sold his soul to Uber 

Gotta get that viral stardom money while you can. 

There aren’t 200 billion galaxies in our universe. It’s more like 2 trillion

This fact doubles as a good conversation starter at the bars this weekend. 

A new robot will rake your leaves and shovel snow

Yo, is it single?

What’s for lunch

Here’s what’s coming up later

The McDonald twins, two 13-month-old boys conjoined at the head. are scheduled for surgery to be separated. Read up on their amazing case. 

And finally …

Light It Up!

Here’s an extremely trippy music video to get your Friday dance party started.