Britain’s Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle are famous climate change advocates but recently pop icon Elton John had to come to their defense over their habitual use of private jets to fly around the world on vacation.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently took heat for flying off to vacation at singer Elton John’s $18 million mansion in Nice, France, on the French Rivera, even though they both regularly speak about climate change. Worse for the critical activists, it was the couple’s fourth private jet flight in only 11 days.

But, on Monday, Sir Elton spoke up for the royal couple saying that he not only paid for the flights out of his own pocket, but he also claims to have made a “carbon neutral” donation to paper over the trip, according to the Daily Mail.

The “Rocketman” singer insisted that when he arranged for the pair to visit his home, he also made sure to donate money to an “appropriate” carbon footprint fund.

In his remarks, Elton John said he is “deeply distressed” over the “distorted and malicious” attacks on Harry and Markle, and he feels the need to defend them “from the unnecessary press intrusion that contributed to Diana’s untimely death,” TMZ reported.

John insisted that he offered the couple a short vacation stay at his mansion because they have had a “hectic” year. He also wanted to reward them for their work for charity.

The singer pleaded with the couple’s detractors to “cease these relentless and untrue assassinations on their character that are spuriously crafted on an almost daily basis.”

But critics pounced. The couple had only just returned from a trip to the Spanish island Ibiza — where villas rent for up to $23,000 a week — to celebrate Markle’s 38th birthday. Critics also pointed out that the private jet trip to Nice sports a more than $23,000 price tag and that the pair could have flown commercial 200 times for that cost.

In addition, the private jet flight to and from Ibiza would create 12.5 tons of carbon dioxide per person, an amount of pollution that would take 14 commercial flights to emit, according to activists.

Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the trips, or the costs involved.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

Hospitalisé jeudi dernier pour des douleurs à la poitrine, son état était jugé inquiétant. Leonard Nimoy est décédé ce 27 février.

C’est sa femme qui a annoncé la triste nouvelle au New York Times: Leonard Nimoy s’est éteint. Diagnostiqué l’an dernier d’une obstruction chronique des poumons, il était hospitalisé depuis le 19 février au centre médical de l’université de Los Angeles.

Rentré chez lui dans sa maison de Bel Air, il s’est éteint ce vendredi matin à l’âge de 83 ans.

Leonard Nimoy sera à jamais associé au personnage culte de Spock. Il l’incarne dans la série télévisée originale à la fin des années 60 et dans les 6 long-métrages qui en ont été tirés, à commencer par Star Trek, le film, en 1979. L’acteur a un rôle tel dans l’engouement qu’a suscité la série qu’il participe à l’écriture des scénarios de quatre de ces films. Il sera également employé dans le remake réalisé par J.J. Abrams pour jouer une version plus âgée du personnage.

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Nimoy entretenait d’ailleurs une relation trouble avec son double, mi-homme, mi-Vulcain, aux oreilles pointues, et à la maxime “live long and prosper” (“longue vie et prospérité”). En 1977, il avait écrit une autobiographie intitulée Je ne suis pas Spock, avant d’en écrire une autre en 1995 intitulée Je suis Spock.

En dehors du phénomène Star Trek, Nimoy s’était également adonné à la scène, à l’animation d’émissions de télévision, à l’écriture de recueils de poésie. A la télévision, il sera apparu dans les séries Perry Mason, Mission Impossible, Au-delà du réel, et récemment la série Fringe réalisée par J.J. Abrams mais prend sa retraite à la fin de la deuxième saison.

Côté vie privée, Leonard Nimoy a été marié trente-trois ans à l’actrice Sandra Zober dont il a divorcé en 1987. Il épouse en 1989 la soeur de Michael Bay (Armageddon, Transformers), Susan. Il laisse derrière lui deux enfants, Julie et Adam, de 60 et 58 ans.

Crédits photos : Jordan Strauss/AP/SIPA

NEW YORK (AP) — Miley Cyrus denied rumors Thursday that she cheated on her soon-to-be ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth.

In stream-of-consciousness mode, the pop star concluded: “You can say I am a twerking, pot smoking, foul mouthed hillbilly but I am not a liar.”

Hemsworth, 29, and Cyrus, 26, were on again, off again for 10 years but were married just seven months ago. He filed for divorce on Wednesday , citing irreconcilable differences.

Cyrus and Kaitlynn Carter, the estranged partner of Brody Jenner, were seen kissing in photos that surfaced earlier this month. Cyrus didn’t mention Carter by name on Twitter but admitted to cheating in relationships when she was younger.

“There are NO secrets to uncover here,” Cyrus tweeted. “I’ve learned from every experience in my life. I’m not perfect, I don’t want to be, it’s boring. I’ve grown up in front of you, but the bottom line is, I HAVE GROWN UP.”

Cyrus said she was faithful once she and Hemsworth reconciled, adding:

“I can admit to a lot of things but I refuse to admit that my marriage ended because of cheating. Liam and I have been together for a decade. I’ve said it before & it remains true, I love Liam and always will.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Smith has declared his pronouns “they/them” on social media after coming out as non-binary in what the pop star called his “lifetime of being at war with my gender.”

The English “Too Good at Goodbyes” singer said Friday he’s decided to “embrace myself for who I am, inside and out ….”

The announcement was met with thousands of supportive comments. The 27-year-old Smith said he was excited and privileged for the support. He added he was “very nervous” about the announcement because he cares too much about what people think but decided to go for it.

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There were detractors, too, who wondered about Smith’s need to declare pronouns, an increasingly common practice within the LGBTQ community and beyond.

Smith won an Oscar in 2016 for “Writing’s on the Wall,” from “Spectre” and has multiple Grammy Awards.

ABC’s The View co-host Meghan McCain rushed in to defend model Chrissy Teiegen as the Twitter brawl between President Donald Trump and Teigen’s husband, singer John Legend, erupted. McCain wondered why a “filthy mouth” is necessarily a bad thing.

Meghan McCain offered support for “#teamchrissy” with a tweet asking, “Since when is there something wrong with being a filthy mouthed wife?”

McCain’s sudden support for “foul mouthed” women came on the heels of a social media spat between Trump and Teigen that started with the president tooting his horn about passing criminal justice reform.

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Trump kicked off the feud with a September 8 tweet noting that he passed criminal justice reform even as Obama was unable to do so.

After acknowledging left-wing CNN commentator Van Jones for being part of the success of the measure, Trump turned to slam “boring” singer John Legend and his “filthy mouthed wife,” Chrissy Teigen.

Leftist and virulent Trump-basher John Legend replied to the president scolding him for focusing on a singer and his activist wife and pleading for first lady Melania to rebuke the president.

For her part, Chrissy Teigen reveled in her reputation for having a foul mouth. “lol what a pussy ass bitch. tagged everyone but me. an honor, mister president,” she said.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

Millions of people across the EU will elect a new European Parliament this week in a vote likely to shift the Continent’s balance of power.

Politicians across the bloc’s 28 member states have cast the election as a crucial battle for the future of the Union, with nationalists and populists campaigning to halt EU integration and mainstream parties urging closer cooperation to solve the Continent’s myriad challenges.

On Thursday, the Netherlands and the U.K. — which has to take part due to the Brexit delay — will kick off the election. Ireland and the Czech Republic follow on Friday. Czechs can also vote on Saturday, when they’ll be joined by Slovakia, Malta and Latvia. All other EU member countries will go to the polls on Sunday, May 26. More than 426 million people are eligible to vote; turnout last time was around 42.6 percent.

Projected results from some countries will start to flow in at around 6 p.m. Central European Time, with a projection of the overall result expected later in the evening. POLITICO will have the most comprehensive coverage of the election, with a live blog running from Sunday throughout the night and into Monday, as well as news stories, analysis and infographics.

The election is projected to produce a highly fragmented Parliament, with the long-dominant center-left and center-right blocs unable to form a coalition by themselves — handing greater influence to smaller players such as the Liberals, Greens and populists. Euroskeptics are expected to win a third of the Parliament’s 751 seats, reflecting the global rise in nationalism. Whether they will be able to act as a coherent bloc, however, is one of the big questions of this election.

We’ve compiled highlights of our campaign coverage to give everyone from the mildly curious to the politically obsessive an essential briefing on the election, the issues, the candidates and the stakes.

For those in a rush, here are our three must-reads:

• Michel Barnier’s not-so-subtle shadow campaign for the EU’s top job
• Europe’s big election mess
• Macron and Salvini face off over Continent’s future

Read on for our complete guide to the 2019 European election.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Just the basics: If you only want to know how to vote and who’s likely to come out on top, we’ve got you covered: Here are POLITICO’s latest projections for the European Parliament, and here’s a guide to voting in your country.

Tell me more: One thing seems certain: The European Parliament will have to grapple with greater fragmentation and more Euroskeptics in the chamber. Read about the Parliament’s watershed moment.

Nerd level: Some candidates are essentially guaranteed seats in the European Parliament due to the electoral list system used by most EU countries. Here are the candidates who have already won.

For data geeks: Who will be the winners and losers? What issues do voters care about? Have a look at the data.

* * *

WHO’S RUNNING?

Just the basics: Here are short video interviews with six of the lead candidates — known as Spitzenkandidaten — for European Commission president: Manfred Weber of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP); Frans Timmermans of the center-left Party of European Socialists; Margrethe Vestager of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE); Bas Eickhout of the Greens; Jan Zahradil of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE); and Violeta Tomić of the European Left.

As for other MEPs: Here are some of the new faces expected in the European Parliament, from French populists to Silvio Berlusconi.

Tell me more: Read about the top Spitzenkandidaten — and why the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, though not officially a candidate, is also in the running.

If you’ve never heard of Manfred Weber, you’re not alone: He’s a relative unknown outside of Brussels and his native Bavaria, as our profile of him notes. Meanwhile, Frans Timmermans’ high-profile EU record is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness.

Nerd level: Here is POLITICO’s profile of Nathalie Loiseau, Emmanuel Macron’s standard-bearer in France’s European election campaign and a potential new key Brussels power broker.

For data geeks: See where each political group is strongest and weakest.

* * *

WHAT ABOUT THE POPULISTS?

Just the basics: Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has high hopes for a parliamentary populist alliance.

Tell me more: Far-right parties are hoping to attract voters with fresh faces. In France, it’s Jordan Bardella. In the Netherlands, it’s Thierry Baudet.

Nerd level: It’s Macron vs. Salvini in the battle for Europe’s future.

For data geeks: Europe’s populists are flooding social media, research shows.

* * *

AND WHAT ABOUT BREXIT?

Just the basics: The Brexit delay means the U.K. has to take part in the European election, however reluctantly. That means there could be a messy aftermath for the European Parliament once the U.K. leaves, as British seats will have to be redistributed — and that’s just one of the ways in which U.K. participation disrupts the election.

Tell me more: Here are 13 British MEP hopefuls to watch. There are also two new parties: read about how Nigel Farage runs his Brexit Party like a company and about the group of pro-EU rebel MPs now known as Change UK.

Nerd level: How did the U.K. even end up taking part? Read POLITICO’s deep dive into the Brexit negotiations.

For data geeks: On POLITICO’s projections page, you can check or uncheck “U.K. participates” to see how the European Parliament would look without the Brits.

* * *

WHAT WAS THE CAMPAIGN LIKE?

Just the basics: There were three major Spitzenkandidat debates ahead of the election. Here are our takeaways of the four-way debate in Florence and a recap of the Maastricht debate. And read about how Frans Timmermans tried to lay the groundwork for a left-wing coalition in the last big debate.

Tell me more: The EU got mad at Facebook over the social media giant’s ad policy blocking pan-European campaigns. (Facebook later caved.)

Nerd level: You can rewatch the entire Maastricht debate, co-hosted by POLITICO’s own Ryan Heath, here.

For data geeks: What do European voters worry about? Have a look here.

* * *

WHAT ARE THE CAMPAIGN ISSUES?

Just the basics: POLITICO ran a reality check on the campaign pledges of Manfred Weber and French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas for EU reform.

Tell me more: Climate change has become a major campaign issue, but the EU is divided over steps to reduce emissions. Meanwhile, Weber has said little about the issue.

Nerd level: Read why food and farming are high on the agenda. And have a look at the election fears keeping the Brussels health bubble awake at night.

For data geeks: Here’s how the main concerns of EU voters have evolved over past years.

* * *

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE VOTE?

Just the basics: The aftermath looks certain to be messy.

Tell me more: All candidates have pledged to strive for gender parity in the next European Commission, but Council President Donald Tusk thinks that might be “difficult to achieve.” POLITICO has a few suggestions: Here are 14 potential female candidates for EU top jobs.

Nerd level: Could a Socialist run the Commission? Read why it’s become a possibility.

For data geeks: What group could as-yet unaffiliated parties join, and how would that change the seat distribution? Play the Parliament dating game.

* * *

For even more in-depth coverage, read POLITICO’s national Playbook newsletter series ahead of the European election. Some recent newsletters looked at the pre-election political landscape in Germany, France, Poland, Spain and Italy.

And for a review of the 2014-2019 European Parliament, take a look at our ranking of the 40 MEPs who mattered during this parliamentary term.

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As the United States panics about China’s dominance in the global drone industry, Europe has barely blinked.

In an era of paranoia over data security in which military officers and public officials warn of the reams of sensitive data collected by drones, European governments and militaries are increasingly looking to China, and its premier drone manufacturer DJI, for their needs.

The company insists it has access to “essentially none” of the data its drones produce, and has pushed back hard against allegations of parallels with Huawei, the telecommunications company the U.S. government suspects of spying on behalf of China.

But the value of data being generated — detailed imagery of critical infrastructure, military hardware, frontiers or nuclear sites, for example — coupled with a potential lack of protection from data regulations could make drones a prime target for cyberattacks.

As drone sales skyrocket — the industry is expected to add €10 billion annually to the EU economy — governments stretching from France to Denmark are using commercial off-the-shelf drones made in China for surveillance and inspection purposes.

While U.S. government agencies remain extremely wary in their use of DJI drones, that debate is not being mirrored in Europe.

“There is very little thinking along the lines of, ‘Is this something we should be concerned about?’” said Ulrike Franke, a policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign relations, who focuses on defense policy and technology. “No one is actually concerned,” she said.

Washington’s test

With drones now common use among government departments and militaries to help with search-and-rescue missions, border monitoring or marine patrols, the U.S. has done its utmost to avoid becoming reliant on Chinese technology.

Washington’s Department of the Interior — the agency responsible for managing government lands and natural resources — until July refused to employ DJI drones because they “did not meet UAS [unmanned aerial systems] data management assurance standards.” But the problem became a lack of alternatives: 3D Robotics, the U.S. company contracted instead, stopped making drones in 2016 as it got squeezed out by the competition, and like-for-like replacements are 10 times more expensive.

The U.S. government went back to DJI.

According to an interior department memo, the Chinese drones may now be used but a third party must be present when the software is updated, and the agency will “limit the use of approved aircraft to non-sensitive missions that collect publicly releasable data.”

DJI’s Director of Strategic Partnerships Jan Gasparic said the company took six to eight months to work with the U.S. government to ensure it meets its requirements, and is willing to work with the U.S. military as well. “We’re always engaging different stakeholders to develop standards,” he said.

Both the U.S. military and the Department of Homeland Security have so far maintained the ban, only allowing individual waivers on a “case by case” basis, Pentagon spokesman Mike Andrews told POLITICO in an email.

Some experts warn that DJI’s global monopoly — it has 74 percent of the world’s market, according to 2018 estimates — is a real danger. During a hearing this summer in the U.S. Senate on drone security, Harry Wingo, a professor at the National Defense University, said that DJI’s market access in the U.S. “literally gives a Chinese company a view from above of our nation.”

“DJI says American data is safe, but its use of proprietary software networks means how would we know?” said Wingo.

The company responded with a letter to the Senate committee calling the testimony “unsubstantiated speculation” and “inaccurate.”

“DJI drones do not share flight logs, photos or videos unless the drone pilot deliberately chooses to do so,” the company said in the letter. “They do not automatically send flight data to China or anywhere else.”

Eyes in the sky

While DJI told POLITICO it wouldn’t disclose details of contracts with governments, a number of European militaries and law enforcement authorities are confirmed to have agreements with the company.

The French military, which could not be reached for comment, employs commercial off-the-shelf DJI drones for surveillance and inspection purposes. The German navy also uses drones, and a military spokesperson said he was “not aware of any security issues” that have been raised by that drone use.

Conversely, the Dutch ministry of defense said in an email that concerns surrounding Chinese-built drones are “widely known in the Dutch military. For this reason we do not use the mentioned drones in a reconnaissance role.” The Netherlands uses the U.S.-built Raven drone instead, and uses Chinese-made drones “for different communications sections in order to make footage of exercises and deployments.”

A spokesperson for the Danish military confirmed: “A number of DJI drones have been bought for unclassified and non-operational use, such as news-production, inspection of drain-pipes and advertisement in connection to property sales,” adding: “For classified military purposes other systems are acquired.”

But any decision not to buy Chinese has consequences. The Raven, built by company AeroVironment specifically for militaries, costs $260,000. DJI’s Mavic Pro 2, which anyone can buy from Amazon, costs less than $2,000.

The French military used the earlier model of the Mavic Pro in operations in the Sahel, and said the drone “can be launched instantaneously,” noting it has the ability to parse through a wooded area before the military sends people in. The drone “exemplifies the new combat methods brought by micro-drone technology and demonstrates to what extent drones can facilitate operations,” according to the French army magazine Fantassins.

According to the U.S. interior department, U.S.-made alternatives to DJI’s drones “were up to 10 times less capable for the same price, or up to 10 times more costly than similarly capable DJI aircraft.”

While the British military said it does not employ Chinese-built drones, the country’s police forces do — frequently. In a DJI blogpost, a police official for Devon and Cornwall said they mostly use the drones for missing people searches, firearms operations, road traffic collisions, crime scenes and major events (such as football matches or large music festivals) and fire safety.

A police spokesperson told British media in May: “There is a possibility that data is being captured without our knowledge, but within our unit, DJI drones are only used within areas of policing that are considered non-sensitive.”

Vulnerabilities

It’s difficult to prove how vulnerable the data produced by drones actually is, and governments are reticent to detail how exposed they are to danger. The 53-page report from the U.S. interior department did not make public test results from the Pentagon, and it is unclear on what evidence the U.S. military made its decision not to buy Chinese.

In May, a 13-year old hacker known as Cyber Ninja made a live demonstration at a conference in South Africa out of hacking into and controlling a drone. Last year, sensitive data from U.S. military drones was stolen and sold online. DJI itself was exposed to a security flaw that allowed potential hackers to log into DJI consumer accounts without needing a password. The company said it fixed the flaw.

Under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, the EU has rules detailing companies’ responsibility to protect private data, but a 2o14 EU study acknowledged information from drones might still be difficult to secure. Drone technology “is not a reliable method of ensuring confidentiality of the data as data security and integrity can be endangered by modes of transmission such as satellites, Wi-Fi, and other broadcast technologies,” it said. As drones proliferate, the risks of misuse increases.

When asked about the protections, a spokesperson for the European Commission said: “It’s up to member states to decide on what drones to buy and to ensure that the data they gather with these drones is secure.”

Under GDPR, companies are allowed to move data outside of the EU under so-called standard contractual clauses, with the approval of the Commission. That means DJI can send data collected by its drones to its offices in China.

Manufacturers argue it is in their interest to protect customer data. “We want our customers to use our products and services,” said Paula Iwaniuk, speaking for the Drone Manufacturers Alliance Europe, of which DJI is a member. “Without solid data protection and cybersecurity standards, that would not be possible.”

For its part, DJI says it is doing everything it can to make sure drones are secure. In June it unveiled a so-called Government Edition product line with enhanced security, to give government agencies “total control over their data,” said Mario Rebello, the company’s vice president and regional manager of North America.

Gasparic, DJI’s strategic director, said the company accesses data only in exceptional cases — if a customer complained that the drone malfunctioned, for example, the company would check to see what happened. As part of its privacy policy, DJI said it can also collect “information about your non-DJI device” that would include IP addresses, hardware or geolocation data, as well as “any photo or video … submitted using DJI products and services.”

“Drones generate very sensitive data and vast amounts of it,” said Arthur Holland Michel, the co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone, a U.S.-based research institute. “And all data is vulnerable.”

Industry wars

The concerns in the U.S. have left Washington scrambling on alternatives. “The domestic production capability for small unmanned aerial systems is essential to the national defense,” U.S. President Donald Trump is reported to have said in a June 10 memo.

Taking their lead from the president, U.S. software developers in July said they would stop working with Chinese manufacturers.

That could prove lucrative for DJI’s competitors, including companies in Europe: French company Parrot was in May selected by the U.S. Department of Defense to build short-range reconnaissance drones, despite competition from DJI. The French military in June contracted Novadem, another French company, to build 50 drones that weigh 1 kilogram and will be used for surveillance operations.

But it may already be too late, given the effective monopoly DJI has. “DJI drones are just so much more available,” said Holland Michel.

“Our drones are readily available, affordable, and do 80 percent of what they are supposed to do,” said DJI’s Gasparic, adding that they are an automatic fit for the work that public safety agencies need drones to do.

“We want to be a proactive and responsible custodian,” he said.

This article is from POLITICO Pro: POLITICO’s premium policy service. To discover why thousands of professionals rely on Pro every day, email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.

Ursula von der Leyen announced Monday that she will resign as German defense minister regardless of whether MEPs vote to confirm her as European Commission president on Tuesday.

“Tomorrow I will ask for the confidence of the European Parliament. Regardless of the outcome, I will step down as Minister of Defense on Wednesday in order to serve Europe with all my strength,” she wrote on Twitter.

“I am deeply grateful for the years I shared with the Bundeswehr,” she added.

Von der Leyen is the longest-serving member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet. She was nominated for the post of Commission president by EU leaders as a compromise candidate following a marathon summit earlier this month.

Merkel welcomed von der Leyen’s announcement, saying it shows she had “simply decided on a new stage in her life.”

“I’m glad. That is how I know her,” Merkel told reporters. “Everything else, we will see.”

The Parliament is set to vote on whether to confirm von der Leyen at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Judith Mischke contributed reporting.

CLEARWATER, Fla. –Fifteen NCAA Division I programs opened their 2020 seasons at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic presented by Rawlings at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. Additionally, the U.S. National Team, as part of its “Stand Beside Her” Tour presented by Major League Baseball, took part in the festivities with a pair of evening contests against Mississippi State and Illinois.

Four teams – Baylor, Kentucky, Minnesota and Missouri – got off to 2-0 starts, with the Bulldogs and Fighting Illini winning their opening games before taking on Team USA. The Bears run-ruled No. 23 Auburn, 8-0, before scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth to knock off Louisville, 7-4. Gia Rodoni picked up a win and save for Baylor with five innings of three-hit shutout ball.

For all the results, box scores and other tournament information visit the Tournament Central.

The 15^th-ranked Wildcats topped Liberty, 6-2, and walked-off against Texas State, 2-1. Alex Martens smacked two home runs in game one, while Rylea Smith provided a game-ending RBI single to center versus the Bobcats. 

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The No. 8 Gophers edged Missouri State in a pitching duel, 1-0, as both teams combined for just seven hits. Autumn Pease (5 IP, 2 H, 5 K) picked up the win, while Amber Fiser (2 IP, H, 3 K) earned the save. Steffany Dickerson suffered the defeat, allowing a run on four hits with eight punchouts over five innings. Madison Hunsaker tossed two innings of shutout relief. In its nightcap, Minnesota defeated North Carolina State, 13-7.

The Tigers picked up a pair of two-run victories over Notre Dame (3-1) and South Alabama (7-5). They scored two in the top of the seventh to break a 1-1 deadlock against the Irish. Down 5-4 against the Jaguars, Jazmyn Rollin hit a two-run homer and Kimberly Wert added a solo shot to upend South Alabama.

Mississippi State blanked Missouri State, 5-0 to earn head coach Samantha Ricketts her first win as a collegiate head coach. Annie Willis and Emily Williams combined on a three-hit shutout. Willis fanned seven over five innings, while Williams struck out three in two frames of hitless relief. Illinois trumped Liberty, 8-2, behind an 11-hit attack. Danielle Davis’ seventh-inning grand slam gave Illinois some breathing room.

Also picking up their first wins of the season were Auburn, Louisville, North Carolina and Texas State. The Tigers rebounded from their loss to Baylor with a 4-1 triumph over Notre Dame. The Wolfpack upset No. 21 Ole Miss, 3-2. The Cardinals were victorious in their opener, a 4-2 win against No. 21 Ole Miss, while the Bobcats topped South Alabama, 5-2.

The U.S. National Team picked up a pair of shutout victories, defeating Mississippi State, 3-0, and Illinois, 11-0, in five innings.

Action continues tomorrow with four games slated for 10:00 a.m. The Red, White and Blue also return with matchups against Baylor at 3:00 p.m. and Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets HERE. If you are unable to make it, you can watch the action for free, as all games are livestreamed by Sportzcast on the NFCA’s YouTube channel (NFCAorg).

Entre deux dates de son Kiss Me Once Tour, Kylie Minogue s’est confiée sur les hommes, la France et ses multiples résurrections. Show devant!

Elle est chaleureuse autant que charmante. Ceux qui la connaissent disent qu’elle est l’exception qui confirme la règle. Dans un show-business encombré par les divas aux ego surdimensionnés, elle tranche par sa simplicité souveraine. Fidèle à ses amis, clairvoyante, elle sait s’entourer. Et une armée de fans la suit dans ses concerts. Comme lors de son concert à Bercy, à Paris, le 15 novembre dernier. Rendez-vous en backstage de son nouveau show, Kiss Me Once. Un privilège qu’on apprécie.

Gala :Vous voici en tournée mondiale avec le Kiss Me Once Tour. Cette fois, votre show est plus modeste en effets spéciaux… les effets de la crise ?

Kylie Minogue : C’est un choix. Dans ma tournée précédente, Aphrodite, il y avait une tonalité très grandiloquente, très extravagante, façon Las Vegas. J’avais mis au point une grande machine avec des références mythologiques. Cette fois, j’ai abandonné la technologie, mais je garde la performance, à priori c’est le meilleur. Et ça me plaît. Je prends davantage de plaisir.

Gala : Est-on encore nerveux avant de monter sur scène, quand, comme vous, on a plus de vingt-cinq ans d’expérience du show ?

K. M. : Oui et non. En fait, je n’ai pas le loisir d’avoir le trac, j’ai le sentiment que le temps file à toute allure. Les dates se succèdent et moi, je plonge dans une sorte de routine qui me permet d’assurer le job. A un moment de la journée, je sais juste que quelqu’un me dit : « Hey, tu dois entrer en scène ! »… Et j’y vais sans me poser de questions.

Gala : Ça doit être épuisant, non ?

K. M. : Absolument, c’est pour ça que je me ménage. Je ne vois rien des villes où je passe. Je suis en tournée, pas en vacances. Je m’alimente sainement, le soir, je dors, je ne sors pas. Et si j’ai un jour de libre, il n’est pas rare que je ne quitte pas mon hôtel. Bref, hors scène, je suis d’un ennui qu’on n’imagine pas… (Rires.)

Gala : Constatez-vous une évolution dans le métier de star, si l’on peut dire, ces dernières années ?

K. M. : Oui, les réseaux sociaux ont changé la communication. Avant, quand on avait quelque chose à dire, le temps de réaction était long. Aujourd’hui, on peut faire une mise au point immédiate en 140 signes via Twitter. Je trouve que c’est une avancée positive.

Gala : Vous avez un papa comptable et on dit que vous avez fait des placement immobiliers très judicieux (on parle d’une fortune estimée à 275 millions d’euros, ndlr), vous pourriez décider de vous retirer…

K. M. : C’est vrai. J’ai hérité du bon sens de mon père et je lui dois beaucoup, parce que je suis à l’abri des aléas financiers. L’argent et moi, finalement, c’est une affaire raisonnable. Je fais attention, je ne dépense pas énormément. Je me lâche juste sur les billets d’avion. Mais la retraite, c’est hors de question parce que quand je chante, quand je suis face au public, il ne s’agit pas de business, mais de passion.

Gala : Quel autre univers que la musique vous attirerait?

K. M. : J’ai adoré mon expérience en tant qu’actrice avec Leos Carax sur Holy Motors. En ce moment, je regarde les films de Jacques Demy et d’Agnès Varda. Je me verrais bien embrayer vers le cinéma sous la direction de réalisateurs français.

Gala: Que pouvez-vous bien trouver de spécial à la France pour avoir eu deux boyfriends français (le photographe Stéphane Sednaoui et l’acteur Olivier Martinez, ndlr)?

Kylie Minogue: Je suppose que je suis comme tous les étrangers, je trouve Paris très romantique. Et j’aime le côté épicurien des hommes français.

Gala: Vous ne trouvez pas que nous sommes une population de râleurs?

K.M.: Si, bien sûr. Mais quand on apprend à vous connaître, vous savez être charmants, vous les Français. Il suffit de posséder les codes. Au début, à Paris, je n’arrêtais pas de dire bonjour à tout le monde et de sourire. Et puis j’ai compris que je passais pour niaise, que cela n’était pas dans votre culture. Donc j’ai appris à me renfrogner et c’est ensuite, quand la glace se brise, que les festivités commencent. Désormais, j’explique ça à toutes mes copines australiennes qui viennent en France: surtout, ne souriez pas! (Rires.)

Gala: En amour, on a le sentiment que vous êtes attirée par des playboys. Dernièrement le mannequin Andrés Velencoso, dont vous êtes séparée, et plus récemment André Balazs (l’ex d’Uma Thurman, ndlr), avec qui vous vous êtes affichée…

K.M.: André n’est qu’un ami. Et oui, j’ai peut-être connu de beaux garçons, mais ça ne suffit pas pour moi. J’aime qu’on me fasse rire et qu’on soit intelligent. Le charisme, c’est surtout ça qui fait la différence.

Gala: Officiellement vous êtes donc célibataire. A 46 ans, vous arrive-t-il d’envisager l’adoption?

K.M.: Je n’ai pas trop envie de parler de ça. J’envisage surtout de rencontrer un homme avec lequel fonder une famille, elle ne sera peut-être pas construite selon le schéma classique, mais j’espère en avoir une.

Gala: Vous êtes une sorte d’icône glamour, vous devez intimider les hommes. Y a-t-il des moments où vous perdez votre sophistication?

K.M.: Je ne crois pas intimider qui que ce soit. Vous devriez me voir traîner en loques chez mes parents, quand je rentre chez eux, en Australie. De toute façon, on ne peut pas être pomponnée 24 heures sur 24. Même si j’aime la sophistication, je l’abandonne volontiers. Et je suis certaine qu’Elizabeth Taylor ou Marilyn Monroe faisaient pareil. Il y a un moment où un amoureux me croise sans make-up et ça me va. Le glamour, c’est tout un travail que l’on ne peut humainement pas accomplir chaque jour. Même si en ce moment je craque pour un look Givenchy vintage avec un cardigan Tsumori Chisato et des escarpins Dolce & Gabbana, vous me croiserez plutôt dans la rue en jean et tee-shirt. Je ne suis pas une poupée.

Gala : Depuis votre combat contre le cancer, qui a été soigné en France, on a le sentiment que vous êtes une sorte d’héroïne du show-business. Un exemple mondial de résilience.

K. M. : D’abord j’ai été soignée autant en Australie qu’en France, ensuite, j’ai eu mon lot de déboires. Je ne suis pas une icône intouchable. A mes débuts, c’était très hard. Je venais de l’univers du soap opéra et je passais pour une petite minette inconsistante. J’ai dû me battre pour lutter contre ces idées reçues.

Gala : Il est vrai que même si vous avez eu des bas dans votre carrière, vous avez réussi de nombreux come-back spectaculaires…

K. M. : C’est juste. O.K., je suis petite (1,52 m, ndlr), mais je suis très déterminée. Mon père disait que quand j’avais cinq ans et qu’il m’emmenait au poney, je ne rêvais que d’une chose, c’était de monter sur le plus grand cheval. Eh bien, ça n’a jamais changé.

Crédits photos : VISUAL