*Netanyahu and Abbas Shake Hands at Peres Funeral:

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was laid to rest Friday morning, as world leaders gathered at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery to pay their respects. Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas notably shook hands during the ceremony—a stunning signal of good will considering the pair’s long history of feuding over responsibilities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Obama remarked that Abbas’s presence at the funeral was “a gesture and a reminder of the unfinished business of peace” as started by Peres decades ago.

84% FIND LBN “INDEPENDENT”:

Most voters believe news organizations play favorites when it comes to fact-checking candidates’ statements, but this skepticism is much stronger among voters who support Donald Trump than those who back his rival Hillary Clinton. An incredible 84% of LBN readers in all 50 of the United States and 26 foreign countries feel LBN neither favors Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives and that it is consistently “independent”!

*Duterte: I’d ‘Be Happy’ to Slaughter 3 Million Addicts:

In a bizarre speech in Davao City on Friday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he’d “be happy” to wipe out three million drug addicts in the country. “There are three million drug addicts [in the Philippines]. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte told reporters, going on to compare himself to Adolf Hitler. “If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have…,” he said, pointing to himself. “You know my victims. I would like [them] to be all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition,” he said. Duterte’s rise to power in June was accompanied by promises to end crime and corruption in the country, though critics have warned that his unorthodox methods may end up unleashing chaos. This month, a man testified before the Philippine senate that Duterte had ordered the killing of about 1,000 alleged criminals during his time as mayor of Davao City. More than 3,100 people have been killed in extrajudicial violence since he took office on June 30—mostly alleged drug dealers and users, according to Reuters.

*LBN-INVESTIGATES:   ***Researchers determined that in 2004, 33% of the firearms owned in the U.S. were rifles, 21% were shotguns, 20% were revolvers, 14% were semi-automatic pistols, 6% were other long guns, 5% were other handguns, and 1% were other guns.

*Stolen Van Gogh Paintings Recovered by Italian Anti-Mob Cops:

Italian police recovered two stolen Vincent van Gogh paintings—said to be of “priceless value”—during an anti-mafia operation in Naples, officials confirmed Friday. The two early van Gogh works—Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuene and View of the Sea at Scheveningen—were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in an infamous 2002 heist—listed by the FBI as one of the top 10 art crimes ever—and “appear to be in relatively good condition,” authorities said. It is unclear when the paintings will be returned to the Netherlands, but prosecutors intend to use them as evidence in a case against the Naples-based Camorra crime family.

*USA Today Denounces Trump:

USA Today hasn’t taken sides in a presidential contest in its 34-year history but decided to publish an editorial imploring people not to vote for Donald Trump. “This year, the choice isn’t between two capable major party nominees who happen to have significant ideological differences. This year, one of the candidates—Republican nominee Donald Trump—is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency,” the editorial board writes. USA Today is just the latest paper to condemn Trump, including multiple conservative-leaning outlets like The Arizona Republic, which backed Hillary Clinton, marking the first time the paper has ever endorsed a Democrat.

*LBN-HEALTH WATCH:   ***Almost four million American teenagers have just started their freshman year of high school. Can they learn better ways to deal with all that stress and insecurity? New research suggests they can. Though academic and social pressures continue to pile on in high school, teenagers can be taught effective coping skills to skirt the pitfalls of anxiety and depression. David S. Yeager, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and a leading voice in the growing effort to help college students stay in school, has been turning his attention to younger teenagers to help shore up their resilience at an earlier age. His latest study, published in the journal Psychological Science, found a surprisingly effective technique. At the beginning of the school year, students participated in a reading and writing exercise intended to instill a basic, almost banal message to help them manage tension: People can change.

*LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:   ***He is forfeiting at least $41million in pay. He vows that his bank will drop its sales incentive program — blamed for prompting bankers to set up illegal and unauthorized bank and credit card accounts to meet their sales goals — by the end of the week, not in January, as he had previously promised. But at a hearing Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee, nobody was impressed. If anything, the House lawmakers who interrogated John G. Stumpf, the chief executive of Wells Fargo, were even angrier and more hostile than their Senate counterparts who questioned him last week, before either of those steps had been taken. One by one, Democrats and Republicans alike took turns ripping apart Mr. Stumpf and what took place at the bank he leads. They denounced the actions as “theft,” “a criminal enterprise,” identity fraud, an outrage and a devastating blow to the entire banking industry.   ***The Carnegie Deli, a New York institution since 1937, will soon serve its last “Woody Allen.”  The iconic home to gigantic Jewish-style sandwiches — like the 4-inch-high, pastrami-and-corned beef “Woody” on rye — will close its doors forever on Dec. 31. Restaurant owner Marian Harper Levine tearfully broke the news to 60 heartbroken employees on Friday morning. Levine, 65, said, “At this stage of my life, the early mornings to late nights have taken a toll, along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours that come with operating a restaurant business.”

*LBN-NOTICED:   ***In front of an audience last night at the Directors Guild in L.A. that seemed like a gathering of circa-1990s power agents, producers and executives – John Ptak, Sandy Climan, Fred Specktor, Rick Nicita, Mike Menchel, Glen Meredith as well as Jeffrey Katzenberg, Joel Silver, Lawrence Gordon, Irwin Winkler, Howard Weitzman, David Greenblatt, Bill Block, Adam Fields, Paul Haas, Michael Levine and actor Tobey Maguire – and with moderator James Andrew Miller (the author of the recently-released Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency) throwing in more than a few blunt questions, Ovitz and Meyer traveled the length of their time together, and didn’t hold back when it came to addressing the factors that brought it to a close.   ***Jeffrey Tambor at the opening night of Judith Light’s one-woman show, “All the Ways To Say I Love You” at the Lucille.   ***Coco Rocha at the Paper Factory Hotel in Long Island City.   ***Power attorney Brad Gerstman cheering on the Giants at MetLife Stadium.   ***TLA Talent Agency owners Sid Levin and Don Cisternino having a late night dinner last night at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills.

*LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:   ***It’s official: Lady Gaga will headline the Super Bowl halftime show. The NFL and Pepsi announced Thursday that the pop star will take the stage Feb. 5 at NRG Stadium in Houston. Gaga sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl this year in Santa Clara, California. Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Coldplay headlined the halftime show.

*LBN- SITE OF THE DAY:

“MapQuest provides interactive maps and driving directions for cities and towns worldwide. Also provides road trip planner, addresses, and phone number finder.”

*LBN-COMMENTARY by David Brooks: This presidential election is a contest between the oldest of the baby boomers. Yet Donald Trump, 70, and Hillary Clinton, 68, represent two very different decades in the formation of that generation. Donald Trump became famous as a classic 1980s type, while Hillary Clinton first attained public notice as a classic 1960s type. It’s interesting, and sad, to see how the promise of those two decades has aged. Trump opened Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in November 1983. Go-go capitalism had a lot of élan back then. Capitalism had washed away the stagnation of the 1970s. It was defeating the Soviet Union. During the Reagan years, writers celebrated capitalism not only as a wealth-generating engine but also as a moral system, a way to arouse hard work, creativity and trust. Of course, Trump was always a scuzzy version of the capitalist type. Somehow I got on the guest list of a few of the ’80s-era parties he hosted in the lobby of his skyscraper and would go for sociological entertainment.

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Susan Estrich (Attorney, Political Commentator): Even if you’ve never seen a single episode of “The Apprentice,” just from watching the debate you can understand why the Donald has been the most popular and enduring star in reality television, why he would even presume to think he could trademark as his own the expression “You’re fired.” His favorite. It wasn’t just that he made factual mistakes on Monday. Anyone can do that. What bothered me is that he didn’t care, not one bit.

*LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

*LBN-OVERHEARD:   ***There are fears for the health of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, whose weight has plummeted and who hasn’t been seen in public for months, according to a source. “He looks like he is down to around 90 pounds and super sick. His people are really trying to keep this under wraps. You even have to sign a confidentiality agreement to go up to see him,” a source said. Hef tweeted a photo of himself in purple silk pajamas from his “Midsummer Night’s Dream” party on Aug. 27, but he was reportedly absent from the bash, which his son Cooper instead hosted. He was also seen looking frail in May with 2016 Playmate Eugena Washington.