10 things you need to know today: January 18, 2015

1. Obama to propose tax hikes for wealthy, cuts for middle class

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama will call for reshaping the tax code by raising rates for high income-earners and financial institutions while cutting taxes for the middle class. The plan would raise $320 billion over the coming decade, according to the administration. Republican lawmakers have so far resisted any tax increases under Obama, and it's unlikely they'll change course now that they control both chambers of Congress.

The New York Times

2. Gunmen in Paris terror attack quietly buried

Cherif Kouachi, one of the two gunmen who killed 12 people in an attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was quietly buried Saturday in an unmarked grave near Paris. His brother and accomplice, Said, was buried Friday in Reims in what the city's mayor described as "the most discreet, anonymous way possible."

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The Guardian

3. Police arrest teenage couple after crime spree

Florida police on Sunday arrested two teenagers accused of stealing cars, cashing phony checks, and destroying property during a two-week crime spree across the South. The two Kentucky teens, 13-year-old Cheyenne Phillips and 18-year-old Dalton Hayes, went on the run earlier this month when Hayes was due in court to face burglary charges. Panama City Beach police found the two sleeping in a stolen car and arrested them shortly after midnight. Both teenagers are expected to face felony charges back in Kentucky.

CBS

4. Ukrainian troops reclaim most of rebel-held airport

Ukrainian troops on Sunday regained control over most of an airport near Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, after an overnight raid. Despite a delicate truce in place since September, pro-Russian separatists took control of the strategically important airport in recent weeks. A Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said four soldiers were killed in the "massive operation" to push back the rebels.

Bloomberg

5. Greece arrests four people in connection with Belgian terror plot

Police in Greece on Saturday arrested four men in Athens who are suspected of having ties to a disrupted plot to attack Belgian police. One of the men is an Algerian who recently traveled to Syria and is rumored to be the ringleader of the foiled plot. Belgium is on high alert after a series of anti-terror raids and has, for the first time in 30 years, deployed troops to supplement police in guarding potential targets around the country.

The Los Angeles Times BBC

6. Gunmen kidnap Yemen president's top aide

Gunmen on Saturday kidnapped Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, chief of staff to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The gunmen, who identified themselves as Shiite Houthi rebels, said the kidnapping was intended to prevent the government from breaking a U.N.-brokered agreement between the two parties. The head of Yemen's national security apparatus said the kidnappers had made no ransom demand, but that "talks are ongoing to secure [Mubarak's] release."

The Wall Street Journal

7. ISIS releases hundreds of Yazidi prisoners

The Islamic State has released around 200 Yazidis, most of them elderly or sick, who had been held for five months in Iraq. The prisoners showed signs of abuse and neglect, though it was unclear why ISIS released them now. "It probably became too expensive to feed them and care for them," General Shirko Fatih, a Kurdish commander in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said.

The Guardian

8. Anti-Islam rally canceled in Germany

A nationalistic German organization that stages weekly anti-Islam rallies has called off its scheduled Monday event in Dresden, claiming one of its organizers received terror threats. Called the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA, the group's last event, in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, drew a record crowd of 25,000. Dresden police confirmed there was a "concrete" threat on the life of one of the organizers.

The Associated Press

9. Six million attend Pope Francis' mass in Philippines

An estimated six million people turned out Sunday for an outdoor mass led by Pope Francis in the Philippine capital of Manila. Officials said the massive crowd topped the record gathering that assembled for a 1995 mass led by Pope John Paul II. The record gathering came on the last day of Francis' six-day Asian tour.

USA Today

10. Super Bowl XLIX matchup to be set Sunday

Sunday's AFC and NFC championship games will determine which teams meet in next month's Super Bowl. The New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts square off in the AFC, while the reigning Super Bowl champ Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers for the NFC crown.

ESPN