Lucas Pettersson and Eddie Genborg each scored twice and Sweden beat the United States 6-3 on Wednesday night in the world junior hockey championship to complete group play unbeaten. Casper Juustovaara opened the scoring in the first period on a deflection, and the Swedes led 5-1 in the second period in the Group A finale. Ivar Stenberg scored in the third, and Love Harenstam made 28 saves.  In the quarterfinals Friday, Sweden will face Latvia, and the second-place Americans will play Finland, a 7-4 loser to Canada later Wednesday night in the Group B finale in Minneapolis. Canada will play Slovakia, and Czechia will meet Switzerland. Chase Reid, Will Zellers and Teddy Stiga scored for the United States.

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

Respondents to an annual Michigan college survey of overused and misused words and phrases say “6-7” is “cooked” and should come to a “massive” and “full stop” heading into the new year. Those are among the top 10 words on the 50th annual “Banished Words list,” released Thursday by Lake Superior State University. The tongue-in-cheek roundup of overused slang started in 1976 as a New Year’s Eve party idea. There were around 1,400 submissions this year from all 50 states and a number of countries outside the U.S., including Uzbekistan, Brazil and Japan.

C.J. McCollum made a go-ahead, pull-up jumper with a second remaining to give the Washington Wizards a 114-113 victory over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. McCollum’s winner capped an 18-point performance. Alex Starr and Bub Carrington each scored 20 points. Antetokunmpo scored 33 points to lead the Bucks (14-20), who shot 41.1% from the floor and made 16 of 39 from 3-point distance. Kevin Porter Jr. scored 19 points and Ryan Rollins finished with 16 for Milwaukee, which had won two in a row and was looking for its first three-game win streak of the season.

John Gibson kept up his hot December with 24 saves, Dylan Larkin and Mason Appleton scored goals, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the slumping Winnipeg Jets 2-1. Gibson won for the ninth time in 10 starts as the Red Wings improved to 11-3-1 in December. The Jets lost their seventh straight game (0-4-3) on a night where Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves. Logan Stanley scored Winnipeg’s goal. The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead at 8:22 of the first period when Larkin ripped a shot over Hellebuyck’s glove while on the power play. Appleton put the Red Wings ahead 2-0 with 5:12 left in the first.

In a breakneck digital era, the ancient art of Peking opera works hard to keep flourishing. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Arch Manning was just as potent with his legs as with his arms. That combination carried 14th-ranked Texas to a 41-27 victory over No. 18 Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. The game was tight until Manning broke it open with a 60-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. He finished with 221 yards passing and two scores, and 155 yards rushing and two TDs on the ground. Michigan capped off a month the Wolverines would rather forget. Coach Sherrone Moore was fired for an extramarital affair with a staffer. New coach Kyle Whittingham watched from a coaching box.

Pope Leo XIV has closed out 2025 with a prayer that the city of Rome might be a welcoming place for foreigners and fragile people young and old. Leo presided over a New Year’s Eve vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica. He gave thanks for the 2025 Holy Year that brought millions of pilgrims to Rome in the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Christianity. Leo will officially close out the Jubilee on Jan. 6. In his homily, he thanked the city of Rome and the volunteers who helped keep crowds moving as they visited St. Peter’s and passed through its Holy Door.

Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist hours after being selected to play for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild 4–3 in a shootout. Celebrini and William Eklund scored for the Sharks in the tiebreaker, while Minnesota failed to convert on either of its two attempts. San Jose has won three straight following a three-game slide. Igor Chernyshov had a goal and two assists, and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Sharks. The 19-year-old Celebrini got his 40th assist of the season, passing Mikko Rantanen for second-most in the NHL. Yaroslav Askarov finished with 20 saves. Vladimir Tarasenko, Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello scored for the Wild, who are 2-0-1 on their seven-game trip.

For the second time in one week, Anthony Edwards didn’t stick around for the end of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ game. This time, the exit was his decision. Edwards left the Minnesota bench and the court during a timeout late in the Timberwolves’ 126-102 loss at the Atlanta Hawks. Edwards apparently disagreed with coach Chris Finch pulling his starters with the Hawks leading 109-80. Edwards tossed his towel and left the bench. Edwards did not speak with reporters after the game. Finch says “Ant-Man” should have remained on the bench to support his teammates.

Eight-time Grammy-nominated gospel singer Richard Smallwood has died at 77. His representative announced that Smallwood passed away Tuesday due to complications from kidney failure in Maryland. Smallwood had faced health challenges for years, but his dedication to music kept him going. His songs were recorded by artists such as Whitney Houston and Destiny's Child. Smallwood's music inspired many, including Chaka Khan, who praised his brilliance and spirit. He began playing piano at age 5 and formed his first gospel group by 11. One of his biggest hits was the song “Total Praise.”

Chief Justice John Roberts says that the Constitution remains a sturdy pillar for the country, a message that comes after a tumultuous year in the nation’s judicial system with pivotal Supreme Court decisions on the horizon. Roberts released his annual letter to the judiciary on Wednesday and said the nation’s founding documents remain firm and unshaken, a reference to a century-old quote from President Calvin Coolidge. It comes after a year in which some raised fears of a possible constitutional crisis amid legal pushback to President Donald Trump's agenda. The Republican administration has scored wins at the Supreme Court, though major rulings on birthright citizenship and tariffs are yet to come.

Former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers that the Jan. 6. riot at the U.S. Capitol “does not happen” without President Donald Trump. That's according to a transcript released Wednesday of Smith's closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee. Smith also described the Republican president as the “most culpable and most responsible person” in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Dec. 17 deposition was held privately despite Smith’s request to testify publicly. The release of the transcript and video of the interview adds to the public understanding of the decision-making behind two of the most consequential Justice Department investigations in recent history.