English and Spanish cup competitions could be completed in June 2022, after a World Cup in Qatar, under proposals being presented to FIFA next week by leading European clubs.

The European Club Association is proposing an April-May timeframe for the World Cup, arguing it would be less disruptive to the season than FIFA President Sepp Blatter's favored November-December solution for avoiding playing in the fiercest summer heat in Qatar.

Samsung Electronics Co. admitted erring in its smartphone strategy and vowed Thursday to overhaul its handset lineup after profit from those devices tumbled last quarter to the lowest in more than three years.

The South Korean company, which climbed from smartphone laggard to top seller in the past three years, had prided itself on responding quickly to market demand and ability to tailor handsets to the needs of users and mobile carriers around the world.

From her wheelchair, Maryam Samimi punched the air as the referee's whistle signaled her basketball team's win in an Afghan national tournament, a moment of joy in a country often unkind to those missing limbs.

Many amputees in Afghanistan languish without access to care and become depressed and isolated. And with mines and unexploded ordinance still scattered across this country ravaged by decades of nonstop war, more will be maimed or lose limbs from explosions.

A western Michigan couple with 12 sons is expecting baby No. 13, and even though they're sticking to their tradition of not finding out in advance whether they're having a boy or girl, they said they'd be shocked if their streak is broken.

Jay and Kateri Schwandt's baby is due May 9, The Grand Rapids Press reported (http://bit.ly/1wLt00x ). Even though they expect it will be another boy, the couple said they would welcome either into the family.

Who says kids don't read? Not Taylor Swift.

The superstar made a stop Tuesday night on her busy tour promoting her new album to share her passion for reading and writing with a gaggle of New York City public school kids — and 100 more giggling on computer screens via Skype from classrooms in Michigan and California.

Police in central Alabama say a man's own dog helped officers bust him on a drug charge.

Prattville Police spokeswoman Paula Barlow says the pooch named Bo followed his fleeing master, who was being pursued by officers. When the dog stopped and wagged his tail in tall grass, she says, officers found and arrested Edwin Henderson.

Sri Lankan soldiers stepped up their search Thursday for 100 people feared buried alive in a landslide at a tea plantation, but there was little hope of finding any survivors.

Hundreds of troops using heavy diggers clawed through tonnes of mud that buried scores of tin-roofed homes at the picturesque plantation in the island's center on Wednesday.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly ruled out the naturalization of Syrian refugees, denying international pressure to keep the displaced in Lebanon.

In remarks to As Safir daily published on Thursday, Plumbly said: “The issue of the naturalization of the Syrian refugees is out of the question.”

British pop star Phil Collins on Tuesday handed over his vast collection of artifacts related to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution to the state of Texas.

Collins was in San Antonio to donate what's considered the world's largest private collection of Alamo artifacts. It includes a fringed leather pouch and a gun used by Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie's legendary knife and letters from garrison commander William B. Travis.

Elton John called Pope Francis "my hero" for his compassion and push to accept gays by the Roman Catholic Church, at his annual AIDS benefit.

John hosted the event, "An Enduring Vision: A Benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation," Tuesday night in New York City. He said Francis is pushing boundaries in the church and told the crowd: "Make this man a saint now, OK?"