The US president, Joe Biden, has hailed the results of the midterm elections as a “good day for democracy” but control for Congress remains in limbo. We won’t know the final makeup of the Senate until 6 December, as the race for the seat of Georgia is headed for a runoff after neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold to win outright. Tight races also remain unresolved in Arizona and Nevada.
Back home, retired commando and failed Senate candidate Heston Russell (pictured below) allegedly fired indiscriminately from a helicopter at unarmed Afghan civilians on the ground and “may be reasonably suspected … of the war crime of attacking civilians”, documents filed in the federal court claim. These are new allegations made public by the ABC’s defence documents – the broadcaster is being sued for defamation by Russell for a 2020 report on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. Russell denies any wrongdoing.
