IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators have discovered the blood of a missing 15-year-old Iowa girl on the truck of a registered sex offender suspected of kidnapping her Monday, diminishing the chances of finding her alive, a lead investigator said Thursday.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A New Jersey man behind the wheel of a van that careened off of an Illinois freeway and overturned, killing five passengers returning from a California ministry gathering, had his driving privileges suspended last year for administrative reasons, motor vehicle records show.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama sought Thursday to advance the U.S. beyond the unrelenting war effort of the past dozen years, defining a narrowing terror threat that still imperils the nation but now is defined by smaller networks and homegrown extremists rather than the grandiose plots of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida. He defended his controversial drone-strikes program as a linchpin of the U.S. response to the evolving dangers.

DENVER (AP) — In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. has asked a federal appeals court for an exemption from part of the federal health care law.

NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Weiner set out to reintroduce himself to voters Thursday as he embarked on a mayoral bid after leaving Congress in a sexting scandal. He found a much more supportive reception in his first campaign stop than he did from his party's leadership, who bluntly criticized his candidacy a day earlier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after she refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing, Lois Lerner has been replaced as director the Internal Revenue Service division that oversaw agents who targeted tea party groups.