IHT Rendezvous: IHT Quick Read: Jan. 17

NEWS The U.S. State Department said Americans were among hostages captured by Islamist extremists in Algeria on Wednesday, in what the attackers called retaliation for France’s intervention in Mali. Adam Nossiter and Scott Sayare report.

Nearly half of Germany’s gold reserves are held in a vault at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — billions of dollars worth of postwar geopolitical history squirreled away for safe keeping. Now the German central bank wants to make a big withdrawal — 300 tons in all. Jack Ewing reports from Frankfurt.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it was grounding all Boeing 787s operated by United States carriers until it can determine what caused a new type of battery to catch fire on two planes in nine days. Other regulators around the globe followed suit. Christopher Drew, Jad Mouwad and Matthew L. Wald report.

China is hoping a huge investment in its universities can help leverage its population into 195 million college graduates by the end of the decade. Keith Bradsher reports from Sanya, China.

Fleur Pellerin, a deputy finance minister in France, is the point woman in President François Hollande’s campaign to stimulate innovation. But in trying to put a French imprint on the digital economy, she has been drawn into a growing number of disputes with U.S. technology companies like Google, Twitter and Amazon. Eric Pfanner and David Jolly report from Paris.

The dark, double-breasted suits have long been a mainstay, but now Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, has taken to wearing the occasional fedora. It lends him a rakish, retro air as he embarks on what many Italians, foreign investors and no doubt Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany hoped would never happen: another election campaign. Rachel Donadio reports from Rome.

A judge in Siberia on Wednesday rejected an appeal by a member of the punk protest band Pussy Riot to be released temporarily so that she could be with her 5-year-old son while he was growing up, telling the courtroom that having a small child “did not prevent her from committing a serious crime.” Ellen Barry reports from Moscow.

ARTS Art Basel, the Switzerland-based grandfather of international art fairs, has announced the lineup of its first Asian fair. Joyce Lau reports from Hong Kong.

An Italian professor is attempting to turn Karkemish, an ancient city site on the banks of the Euphrates, on Turkey’s southern border and inside a restricted military zone, into a public archaeology park. The war in Syria is not the first conflict to disrupt his plans. Suzanne Fowler reports from Karmemish, Turkey.

FASHION Two fashion behemoths — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and PPR — have turned to a new, young generation of designers. Suzy Menkes writes from Paris.

SPORTS Pep Guardiola, the world’s most sought-after soccer coach, will take over as head coach of the German powerhouse Bayern Munich at the conclusion of the season. Andrew Keh reports.

The Knicks will play the Pistons on Thursday before a capacity crowd in London, but that doesn’t mean interest in basketball is intense. Steven Cotton writes from London.

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