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Rep. Noem hasn't decided on possible Senate run
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota said Thursday she hasn't decided yet whether to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year.
• "I believe there's still time to consider political futures, but right now I'm focused on policy," Noem said in a telephone call with South Dakota news organizations.
• Noem, in her second term as South Dakota's lone member of the House, said South Dakota's June 2014 primary is still more than a year away.
• "I believe I've got time yet here to consider that and make a decision," Noem said.
• Former Gov. Mike Rounds is the only announced Republican candidate for the seat now held by Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, who announced last month he will not seek re-election next year.
• Some conservative Republicans have said they are reluctant to support Rounds' Senate candidacy because they believe he is not conservative enough on budget and tax issues.
• Rounds has said he was pragmatic but had a good record on taxes and spending during his two terms as governor. He has said he expects to have a primary opponent.
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AP News in Brief
NKorea shifts into holiday mode as Obama's top diplomat arrives in Seoul amid missile fears
• PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Koreans crowded a Pyongyang flower show, packed theaters and pledged loyalty to their leader Friday ahead of a key national holiday, while the top U.S. diplomat landed in rival South Korea for talks on how to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
• As U.S. and South Korean troops braced for what some feared may be an imminent North Korean missile launch, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Seoul on Friday for talks with South Korean officials before continuing on to China.
• Hours earlier, President Barack Obama demanded an end to the escalating war rhetoric from Pyongyang. In his first public comments since North Korea warned of a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula, Obama called it time for the isolated nation (Continued on page 21)
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