SYDNEY (Reuters) -Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat after an election on Saturday and the opposition Labor Party was set to end almost a decade of conservative rule, possibly with the support of pro-environment independents.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had conceded defeat in a national election on Saturday, saying that while vote counting was incomplete the opposition Labor party looked likely to form a government.

LONDON (Reuters) -Russia said on Saturday it had so far banned 963 Americans from entering the country - including previously announced moves against President Joe Biden and other top officials - and would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile U.S. actions.

Representatives of the United States and several other nations walked out of an Asia-Pacific trade ministers meeting in Bangkok on Saturday to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials said.

Russia stopped delivering gas to Finland in an escalation of a dispute over energy payments with Western nations, and claimed victory in a weeks-long battle for Mariupol's devastated Azovstal steel plant as it presses for control of the Donbas.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Shanghai cautiously pushed ahead on Saturday with plans to restore part of its transport network in a major step towards exiting a weeks-long COVID-19 lockdown, while Beijing kept up its defences in an outbreak that has persisted for a month.

President Joe Biden and his new South Korean counterpart agreed on Saturday to hold bigger military drills and deploy more U.S. weapons if necessary to deter North Korea, while offering to send COVID-19 vaccines and potentially meet Kim Jong Un.

Global health officials have sounded the alarm over rising cases in Europe and elsewhere of monkeypox, a type of viral infection more common to west and central Africa.

Russia pressed for control of Ukraine's Donbas region, claiming victory in the months-long battle for Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant and launching a major offensive on the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the province of Luhansk.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill to provide nearly $40 billion in aid for Ukraine as part of efforts to boost military support over Russia's invasion, the White House said.