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LAO PRESIDENT TO VISIT NORTH KOREA AT INVITATION OF KIM JONG UN – KCNA

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(Adds details from Google statement and right-of-reply attempts) WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Alphabet's Google said hackers are sending extortion emails to an unspecified number of executives, claiming to have stolen sensitive data from their Oracle business applications. In a statement, Google said a group claiming affiliation with the ransomware gang cl0p was sending emails to "executives at numerous organizations claiming to have stolen sensitive data from their Oracle E-Business Suite. Google cautioned that it "does not currently have sufficient evidence to definitively assess the veracity of these claims." Messages seeking comment from cl0p and Oracle were not immediately returned. Google did not immediately return a message seeking additional details on the alleged targets of the extortion campaign. (Reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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Oct 2 (OPTA) – Standings for the UEFA Champions League on Thursday Stage : League Stage P W D L F A Pts 1 Bayern München 2 2 0 0 8 2 6 2 Real Madrid 2 2 0 0 7 1 6 3 PSG 2 2 0 0 6 1 6 4 Inter 2 2 0 0 5 0 6 5 Arsenal 2 2 0 0 4 0 6 6 Qarabağ 2 2 0 0 5 2 6 7 Dortmund 2 1 1 0 8 5 4 8 Man City 2 1 1 0 4 2 4 9 Tottenham 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 10 Atlético 2 1 0 1 7 4 3 11 Newcastle 2 1 0 1 5 2 3 12 Marseille 2 1 0 1 5 2 3 13 Club Brugge 2 1 0 1 5 3 3 14 Sporting 2 1 0 1 5 3 3 15 Frankfurt 2 1 0 1 6 6 3 16 Barcelona 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 17 Liverpool 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 18 Chelsea 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 19 Napoli 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 20 R. Union SG 2 1 0 1 3 5 3 21 Galatasaray 2 1 0 1 2 5 3 22 Atalanta 2 1 0 1 2 5 3 23 Juventus 2 0 2 0 6 6 2 24 Bodø/Glimt 2 0 2 0 4 4 2 25 Leverkusen 2 0 2 0 3 3 2 26 Villarreal 2 0 1 1 2 3 1 27 PSV 2 0 1 1 2 4 1 28 København 2 0 1 1 2 4 1 29 Olympiakos 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 30 Monaco 2 0 1 1 3 6 1 31 Slavia 2 0 1 1 2 5 1 32 Pafos 2 0 1 1 1 5 1 33 Benfica 2 0 0 2 2 4 0 34 Athletic 2 0 0 2 1 6 0 35 Ajax 2 0 0 2 0 6 0 36 Kairat 2 0 0 2 1 9 0

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This is how dire the injury situation has become for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Instead of holding a regular practice Wednesday, they were forced into a walk- through instead. "We probably had more people that couldn't practice than could practice," said coach Todd Bowles. The NFC South-leading Buccaneers (3-1), coming off their first loss of the season to defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, will make a cross- country journey to face the Seattle Seahawks (3-1) on Sunday afternoon. Both teams are celebrating the 50th anniversaries of their 1976 expansion seasons and will wear throwback uniforms. Who will be available to play for the Bucs remains to be seen. Quarterback Baker Mayfield (knee/biceps) was among nine Bucs who didn't participate in practice on Wednesday. That list also included running back Bucky Irving (foot/shoulder) and wide receivers Mike Evans (hamstring) and Sterling Shepherd (foot). On defense, nose tackle Greg Gaines (pectoral) and defensive backs Jamel Dean (hip), Christian Izien (quad), Benjamin Morrison (hamstring) and Tykee Smith (ankle) all sat out. In all there are 16 players listed on Tampa Bay's injury report this week. "I mean (we had a) good walk-through tempo," Mayfield said. "But yeah, I think guys are aware, they got the message. They understand what we're trying to get done. Especially in an environment that we're going to be stepping into. So, it's clear and concise and the guys get it." Mayfield rallied the Bucs to victories in each of the first three weeks of the season, but they couldn't overcome a three-touchdown deficit against the Eagles in falling 31-25. "You're not going to beat the Super Bowl champs turning the ball over three times," Bowles said, including a blocked punt in his team's turnover total. "The fight, we're going to have it every week. But you can't get behind the eight-ball, down 14-0 (eight minutes into the game) and expect to win. We've got to clean up the mistakes." The Seahawks have won three straight since a season-opening loss at home to San Francisco to move into a tie atop the NFC West. They defeated host Arizona 23-20 last Thursday with Jason Myers kicking a 52-yard field goal as time expired after they blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Sam Darnold threw for 242 yards and a touchdown for Seattle. Signed in the offseason, he has 905 yards passing with five touchdowns and a 70% completion rate. "I think it's his decisiveness on how he's playing," said Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald. "He's staying true to his reads and he's rocking it when it's there and when it's not, he's progressing and then checking it down or using his legs, and that's what we're asking him to do. And I think he's doing it obviously at a really high level right now." Darnold and Mayfield have some history, as they were among the top picks in the 2018 draft. Mayfield went No. 1 to Cleveland and Darnold was the No. 3 selection by the New York Jets. Both bounced around and even played together on the Carolina Panthers during the 2022 season before finally finding homes in the NFL. The Seahawks could be without defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, who suffered a quad injury early in last week's victory. Offensive tackle Josh Jones (ankle), cornerback Devon Witherspoon (knee) and safety Julian Love (hamstring) also missed practice Wednesday. –Field Level Media

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NEW YORK — Austin Wells hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their American League wild-card series on Wednesday night. Game 3 of the best-of-three set will be played Thursday in New York, and the winner will advance to face the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Division Series on Saturday. Boston reliever Garrett Whitlock (0-1) got the first two outs in the eighth before Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked. Following a mound visit, Wells put the Yankees ahead when he lined a full-count changeup down the right field line. Chisholm scored from first, sliding in headfirst just ahead of the throw from right fielder Nate Eaton. "Going through my head, I am already running, so any ball that an outfielder moves to his left or right, I have to score, in my head," Chisholm said. "That's all I was thinking." Boston manager Alex Cora said of the plate appearances by Chisholm and Wells, "They're pretty good at-bats. The walk to Jazz, I don't know where that pitch was. Then Wells put (together) a good at-bat, hit it down the line. That happened." Chisholm didn't start the series opener against Garrett Crochet because of the lefty-lefty matchup and appeared to express displeasure at the decision by manager Aaron Boone. New York's Ben Rice hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Brayan Bello and had two hits in his postseason debut. Aaron Judge hit an RBI single in the fifth as the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the postseason for the second time in the past 11 meetings since Game 3 of the 2004 AL Championship Series. Trevor Story drove in three runs off New York starter Carlos Rodon. He hit a two-run single in the third and blasted a game-tying homer to open the sixth. Rodon allowed three runs on four hits in six-plus innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three. The New York bullpen followed with three scoreless innings. Fernando Cruz retired Story on a warning-track fly ball with the bases loaded to end the seventh. Devin Williams (1-0) started a 1-6-3 double play on pinch hitter Nathaniel Lowe in the eighth before striking out Carlos Narvaez to end the inning. David Bednar struck out two in the ninth for his first career postseason save. "It has been two great games, these first two," Boone said. "You know, a lot of big plays on both sides. … I thought our defense tonight was really, really good. Turned a couple big-time double plays, did some good things on the bases, a homer by Benny to get us rolling. "And then the bullpen closing it down after Rodo gave us enough there, even though he struggled a little bit in the seventh to get us through six, set us up and able to hang on." After struggling in the final weeks of the regular season, Bello allowed two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out none before getting pulled after 28 pitches, resulting in the Red Sox using six relievers. "It was so important for us to jump out to an early lead and make them go to their bullpen right away and use all of their guys," Rice said. –Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

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BANGKOK, Oct 2 (Reuters) – The Thai baht was little changed against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. At 0143 GMT, the baht was 0.08% higher at 32.40 versus the dollar, after trading in a range of 32.385 to 32.465. It ended the previous session at 32.42 per dollar, as per LSEG data. For a more detailed report on emerging markets, click on: For baht against other currencies, click on: For gold spot prices, click on: For Thailand market overview, click on: (Reporting by Orathai Sriring)

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JAKARTA, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Indonesian state energy firm Pertamina said it will divert fuel to supply some areas on Sumatra following a fire at its Dumai refinery, a company official said on Thursday, adding there were no supply disruptions. The fire at the refinery was extinguished late on Wednesday, company spokesperson Agustiawan said, adding that supplies to nearby areas on Sumatra were safe, including gasoil. Gasoline supplies for areas in northern Sumatra were not affected and the refinery can still supply gasoil and jet fuel for certain areas. Other Pertamina refineries will divert supplies of gasoil and jet fuel to other areas that cannot be supplied by the Dumai refinery, Agustiawan said. "With the support of other refineries across Indonesia, we'd like to give our assurance that there have been no supply disturbances for the people," he said. "Stock and distribution of fuel remain at a safe level." The Dumai refinery has a total capacity of 170,000 barrels a day and it is the third-largest oil processing refinery in Indonesia, Pertamina said. It is unclear what caused the fire. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Bernadette Christina; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)

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(Adds university names, quotes from reported letter and comments from official cited by WSJ in paragraphs 7-9) WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump's administration has asked U.S. colleges to sign a deal on certain terms to get preferential access to federal funds, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday, citing a 10-point memo. An initial round of nine schools was asked to sign the wide-ranging accord, the newspaper reported. The memo demands that schools ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years, cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%, require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test, and quell grade inflation, the report added. The White House and the U.S. Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Since taking office, Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for universities over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Trump administration's actions that they say are aimed at aligning universities with the Republican president's political agenda. Trump has alleged the universities harbor "anti-American" values. Letters were sent on Wednesday to solicit agreement and feedback from Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, the Wall Street Journal reported. Universities that sign on will get "multiple positive benefits," including "substantial and meaningful federal grants," according to the letter addressed to university leaders that the newspaper quoted. May Mailman, senior adviser for special projects at the White House, told the newspaper that the Trump administration hoped the schools would see the step as "reasonable." (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)

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By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak and rebounding from 16-week lows on prospects of tighter sanctions on Russian crude, though expectations of higher supply from an OPEC+ output boost next month capped gains. Brent crude futures gained 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $65.50 a barrel by 0116 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed by 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $61.92 a barrel. On Wednesday, Brent and WTI both lost about 1%, with Brent closing at its lowest since June 5 and for WTI since May 30. "Buying interest emerged as WTI neared its $60 support level, while heightened geopolitical risks and speculation about tighter sanctions on Russian crude also lent support," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment, a unit of Nissan Securities. The Group of Seven nations' finance ministers said on Wednesday they will take steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to increase their purchases of Russian oil and those that are facilitating circumvention. Also, the U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. This will make it easier for Ukraine to hit refineries, pipelines and other infrastructure with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil, the WSJ said. Still, a U.S. government shutdown stoked worries about the global economy, while expectations of higher output by OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers, weighed on sentiment, limiting the price gains, Nissan's Kikukawa said. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the government shutdown to target Democratic priorities. On the supply side, OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 bpd in November, triple the increase made for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, three sources familiar with the talks said. That would come even as U.S. and Asian demand starts to decline. The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week as refining activity and demand softened. Crude inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels to 416.5 million barrels in the week ended on September 26, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million-barrel rise. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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NEW YORK — Austin Wells hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their American League wild-card series on Wednesday. Game 3 of the best-of-three set will be played Thursday in New York, and the winner will advance to face the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Division Series on Saturday. Boston reliever Garrett Whitlock (0-1) got the first two outs in the eighth before Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked. Following a mound visit, Wells put the Yankees ahead when he lined a full-count changeup down the right field line. Chisholm scored from first, sliding in headfirst just ahead of the throw from right fielder Nate Eaton. Chisholm didn't start the series opener against Garrett Crochet because of the lefty-lefty matchup and appeared to express displeasure at the decision by manager Aaron Boone. New York's Ben Rice hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Brayan Bello and had two hits in his postseason debut. Aaron Judge hit an RBI single in the fifth as the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the postseason for the second time in the past 11 meetings since Game 3 of the 2004 AL Championship Series. Trevor Story drove in three runs off New York starter Carlos Rodon. He hit a two-run single in the third and blasted a game-tying homer to open the sixth. Rodon allowed three runs on four hits in six-plus innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three. The New York bullpen followed with three scoreless innings. Fernando Cruz retired Story on a warning-track fly ball with the bases loaded to end the seventh. Devin Williams (1-0) started a 1-6-3 double play on pinch hitter Nathaniel Lowe in the eighth before striking out Carlos Narvaez to end the inning. David Bednar struck out two in the ninth for his first career postseason save. After struggling in the final weeks of the regular season, Bello allowed two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out none before getting pulled after 28 pitches, resulting in the Red Sox using six relievers. –Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

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