Briefly

IRAN

Presidential poll tipped in hard-liner's favor

Iran voted on Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hardline politician, according to media outlets. State-linked opinion polling and analysts put judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as the front-runner in a field of four candidates. Results are expected around noon on Saturday. If elected, Raisi would be the first serving Iranian president sanctioned by the United States even before entering office.

UNITED STATES

'Obamacare' survives with top court ruling

The Supreme Court's latest rejection of a Republican effort to dismantle "Obamacare" signals anew that the GOP must look beyond repealing the law if it wants to hone the nation's healthcare problems into a winning political issue. Thursday's 7-2 ruling was the third time the court has rebuffed major GOP challenges to Barack Obama's prized healthcare overhaul. Stingingly for Republicans, the decision emerged from a bench dominated 6-3 by conservative-leaning justices, including three appointed by Donald Trump.

Agencies - Xinhua