MTV News has the scoop on Bieber's next single, fall tour and Mark Wahlberg movie. By Jocelyn Vena
<P>Now that <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/bieber_justin/artist.jhtml">Justin Bieber</a> has dropped <a href="/news/articles/1687691/justin-bieber-believe-album-details.jhtml"><i>Believe,</i></a> you might be wondering what's up next for the 18-year-old. Well, between supporting his album and a burgeoning film career, the pop star shows no signs of stopping.</P><P>Bieber is still in the deciding process of nailing down just which track off <i>Believe</i> will be the next single, following up his smash hit <a href="/news/articles/1682090/justin-bieber-justin-timberlake-maturity.jhtml">"Boyfriend."</a> And when MTV News spoke to Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, he noted that there are several candidates from the album that seem like a likely follow-up release.</P><P>"We haven't picked the next single," he said. "We're gonna see how different songs react off the album. <a href="/news/articles/1687783/justin-bieber-big-sean-true-g.jhtml">'As Long As You Love Me' [with Big Sean]</a> is getting a lot of love, so is <a href="/news/articles/1686566/justin-bieber-ludacris-all-around-the-world.jhtml">'All Around The World' [with Ludacris].</a> So is <a href="/news/articles/1687838/justin-bieber-die-in-your-arms-michael-jackson.jhtml">'Die In Your Arms.'</a> 'Beauty and the Beat' is coming with the album. We're gonna see what the next single is. We're gonna figure that out."</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Justin Bieber Proving His Haters Wrong With 'Good Music'" id="vid:793035.id:1687833" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>The guys are also in the process of figuring out how the massive, already <a href="/news/articles/1686358/justin-bieber-believe-tour.jhtml">sold-out world tour</a> will look when it kicks off in September. "The tour starts at the end of September ... by the end of 2013 we're gonna hit the whole world," he explained. "He has been watching a tremendous amount of Michael Jackson concerts from the '80s and '90s. And he has been talking to me about how Michael incorporated magic and pyro and reveals and he wants to bring in that. [But] still do that acoustic thing, but he wants to take it to a whole new level.</P><P>"It's just really exciting," he continued. "Nothing makes him happier than being onstage. So it's gonna be fun to get back onto the road. I think he was an amazing performer before, but his level of dance and musicianship and his range [has grown]. He's a veteran now. I think he wants to take it to a completely new level."</P><P>Not only will Bieber stay busy in the music world, but Mark Wahlberg notes that things are also chugging along with their long-teased, in-the-works <a href="/news/articles/1687903/mark-wahlberg-justin-bieber-movie.jhtml">basketball movie</a>. The actor insists they are inching closer to a start date. And, Wahlberg is co-signing Bieber's acting abilities.</P><P>"Obviously, [Bieber] is a very good athlete. People have seen him on MTV; he can play. But I also really think he can act," he said. "There's not going to be any shortage of pushing him in getting that kind of strong performance out of him, if we get to make the movie. We're just going to have to make him realize that he's playing a character so he can't have the same hairdo," he joked.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Mark Wahlberg Says New Bieber Film Is Like 'Color Of Money'" id="vid:792981" width="415" height="255"></div><p></p>
Skywatchers on the ground have spotted the Chinese Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, which has docked with the Tiangong 1 module, as it hurtled through the night sky.??
By Clara Moskowitz,?SPACE.com / June 25, 2012
Skywatcher Stephen Mudge captured this photo of the Chinese Tiangong 1 and Shenzhou 9 spacecraft docked together over Brisbane, Australia last week.
Stephen Mudge
Enlarge
Last week, Chinese astronauts docked two spacecraft together in orbit for the first, and now skywatchers on the ground have captured the scene.
Chinese spaceflyers Liu Yang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang launched June 16 on the?Shenzhou 9 spacecraft. Two days later, on June 18, the astronauts (known as taikonauts), docked their vehicle at the robotic Tiangong 1 module, which had been in orbit since last autumn.
The two craft have been orbiting Earth together since, with the astronauts ? including China's first female spaceflyer ? living and working onboard. From the ground, the docked Chinese vehicles look much like many other satellites, appearing as a swift-moving pinpoint of light passing across the sky.
Astrophotographer Stephen Mudge?photographed Shenzhou 9 and Tiangong 1?moving roughly 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Brisbane, Australia on June 20. His long-exposure photo shows the docked spacecraft as a bright streak across the otherwise static sky seen in the early morning hours. [How to See China's Shenzhou 6 in Night Sky]
Mudge had shot one of the Chinese spacecraft before. On March 31, before the Shenzhou 9 mission launched, the skywatcher caught a view of Tiangong 1 crossing overhead just five minutes apart from a pass of the International Space Station (ISS).
"The ISS went over first, followed five minutes later by China's Tiangong 1 station only a few degrees away from where the ISS had been," Mudge wrote in an email to SPACE.com.
The International Space Station is the $100 billion product of a collaboration between the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. Tiangong 1 is much smaller, but it is the prototype module for China's goal of establishing a space station of its own by 2020.
The NBA Finals are underway and the only people who want the Heat to win are The Heat, people from Miami and people from Seattle. With all this Miami/ OKC tension, why not put the signature food & drink of each city to a head to head match up. We?ll also give you the recipes for each, so you can put them to the test yourself.
Cuban Sandwich (also know as The Cubano)
Loaf of Cuban style bread (you can substitute with a bread that has a crispy crust and soft inside such as French or Italian bead or even a hoagie or sub roll)
1 pound ham
1 pound of sliced roasted pork
1 pound of Swiss cheese
3 tablespoons of traditional yellow mustard or hot & spicy whole grain yellow mustard (depending on how hot you like it)
20 dill pickle slices
Preheat sandwich press or skillet.
Slice the bread lengthwise.
Spread mustard on the inside of the bread then layer the pickles, ham,cheese and pork.
Put other slice of bread on top and slice into 3 sandwiches.
Add butter to an indoor grill or panini maker (we used our George Foreman grill) and grill sandwiches until cheese is melted and heated through and the bread is golden brown.
Cowboy Brisket Sandwich
6 pounds of cooked braised beef brisket. Recipe from Claire Robinson
Brisket Recipe
6 dinner rolls split in half (potato or onion rolls would also work)
Cook the brisket according to the recipe. Serve on soft rolls with Claire?s sauce on the side.
?
WINNER: Miami with The Cuban
Miami Vice Drink
5 ounces Rum (we used Bacardi 151) 1 package of frozen pina colada mix concentrate 1 package frozen daiquiri mix concentrate Ice
1. Blend pina colada concentrate with 2.5 oz. of rum and ice according to directions.
2. Blend daiquiri concentrate with 2.5 oz. of rum and ice according to directions.
3. While frozen, add frozen pina colada mix to a hurricane glass. Then add the frozen daiquiri mix on top.
Jack & Coke
Jack & Coke
2 oz. Jack Daniel?s Tennessee whiskey
10 oz. cold Coca-Cola
Pour Jack Daniel?s into a Collins glass filled with ice. Pour coca-cola into the glass. Stir together.
?
WINNER: OKC Whiskey & Coke
Chimichanga
6 larger flour tortillas 1 pound of ground beef (80% lean, 20% fat) or ground chicken or turkey 1 onion, diced 2 garlic gloves smashed 1 small can of green chiles, drained & diced 1 tablespoon cumin 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon paprika Vegetable oil
In a skillet add a tablespoon of oil and saute garlic & diced onion until tender. Mix in the spices to the onion and oil in the pan stirring to heat them up. Then add the ground meat cooking all the way through. Add the diced green chiles. Set the filling aside.
Warm the tortillas either in the microwave or oven. Take each warm tortilla lay it flat & fill the center with the meat mixture. Be careful not to over fill the tortilla. Then roll up the tortilla as if you were making a burrito making sure to tuck the ends in. You can use tooth picks to make sure the ends of the tortilla is sealed shut.
Take a large pot and add at least 2 inches of oil to the bottom of the pan (may vary depending on size of pot) Once the oil is sizzling hot add two Chimichangas to the pan cooking until golden brown. Flip the Chimichanga to brown the other side then drain on a paper towel before serving.
Top the Chimichangas with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa or enchilada sauce.
Mexican Tacos
6 taco shells 1 pound of ground beef (80% lean, 20% fat) Home made taco seasoning (instead of the stuff in the packet): 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon Chili powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, pinch of garlic powder, pinch of Cayenne pepper, salt & pepper to taste
Toppings: Chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, green onions, sour cream, salsa, green chiles
Brown the ground beef in a skillet with oil. Once cooked through make sure to drain the extra fat. Add your taco seasoning to the meat mixing it in. Spoon meat mixture into your taco shells and load on your favorite taco toppers.
?
WINNER: OKC Tacos
?
By Food Editor: Sarah Polite
?
Tags: Chimmichanga, Mexican Tacos, Miami, Miami Food, Miami Vice, OKC, OKC food, The cowboy brisket, The cuban Sandwich, Whikey and coke
Illuminating the dark: Ahead with the Euclid missionPublic release date: 20-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Madeleine Russell madeleine.russell@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk 44-017-934-18069 UK Space Agency
UK teams working on the mission to study the "dark Universe" are being granted a planned 8.5M by the UK Space Agency to develop scientific instruments. This is following the formal adoption of the largest collaboration of astronomers in the world by the European Space Agency (ESA) to help build the Euclid satellite.
This is the final phase in the selection of Euclid as part of ESA's "Cosmic Vision" programme also strongly funded by the UK Space Agency. An army of physicists and engineers have been set in motion to build and fly this new mission by the end of this decade. Euclid will study the enigmatic dark matter and dark energy with great precision, tracing its distribution and evolution throughout the Universe.
The additional investment by the UK Space Agency has been awarded to the eight UK institutions involved in Euclid that will be part of an international collaboration of nearly a thousand scientists. The Euclid Consortium is the biggest astronomy collaboration ever created and is already bigger than the existing ESA Planck and GAIA missions. The 8.5M will support the UK teams in their lead roles in both of the instruments over the next 5 years (subject to confirmation following the next Spending Review).
The Euclid Consortium will provide two instruments to ESA. UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory is leading the development of the visible imaging instrument (VIS) and is being supported by more than 5M from the UK Space Agency. The Open University is receiving a grant for its involvement in the near infrared imaging and spectrograph instrument (NISP).
David Parker, Director of Technology, Science and Exploration at the UK Space Agency said:
"This is a huge mission from the importance of the data Euclid will collect to the size of the team involved in putting it into space. The UK is playing a considerable part in both of the instruments and the Science Ground Segment. It is a fantastic example of the leadership of our scientists and facilities. At the heart of the mission is one of the billion pound questions of physics and the UK Space Agency is proud to be funding the teams that are working to unlock some of the great mysteries of the Universe."
These state-of-the-art instruments, equipped with wide-field cameras, will create a huge amount of exceptional quality data over a large percentage of the sky. It will require sophisticated computer resources dedicated to analysing this data; looking for the miniscule signature of dark energy, which is difficult to locate even though dark energy is thought to make up 75% of the energy density in the Universe.
To enable this analysis, the UK Space Agency is also funding the UK's contribution to the programme's Science Ground Segment (SGS). This is being developed through a consortium of institutes comprising Edinburgh (lead), UCL, MSSL, Portsmouth, Oxford, Durham, Hertfordshire and Cambridge. The SGS will coordinate all Euclid data, and include hundreds of scientists at institutions across Europe.
Bob Nichol, Euclid Consortium Communications Lead at the University of Portsmouth said:
"This is great for UK astrophysics, really puts us at the forefront of this fundamental science alongside our European colleagues. We have key roles in building the eyes of Euclid and analysing its data to see the signatures of the dark energy and dark matter. We've all worked so hard for this day!"
In 2007 several mission concepts were selected for studies in response to a competitive call by ESA for 'Medium' class missions to occupy the first two launch slots in the Cosmic Vision plan. Euclid is now an official ESA mission and solidifies the Euclid Consortium at forefront of worldwide research into the "Dark Universe". Demonstrating its commitment to world-class science, the UK Space Agency has now confirmed major contributions to both of ESA's new science missions, Solar Orbiter and Euclid.
###
For further information, please contact:
Madeleine Russell
Press Officer
UK Space Agency
Email: madeleine.russell@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1793 418069
Bob Nichol
Euclid Consortium Communications Lead
ICG, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Email: bob.nichol@port.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 3117
Mobile: +44 (0)7963792049
Yannick Mellier
Euclid Consortium Lead
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Paris, France
Email: mellier@iap.fr
Phone: +33 1 44 32 81 40.
Images
Artist's impression of Euclid
Credit : ESA
Notes to Editors:
Euclid Mission
Euclid is a 1.2m space telescope, located at 2nd large Sun-Earth Lagrange point, and will perform two major surveys of the sky over at least 5 years. The wide survey will cover 40% of the whole sky and is focused on mapping the locations and shapes of billions of galaxies. The Euclid deep field will cover a patch of the sky approximately 100 times the size of the full Moon (or 15,000 times larger than the Hubble Ultra Deep Field), to unprecedented depths. The combination of depth and sky coverage will enable Euclid to detect very rare sources such as extremely high redshift quasars, and potentially the first galaxies that ever formed.
Euclid Consortium
Euclid was formally selected in October 2011 for flight, with the Euclid Consortium adopted to help build Euclid on June 20th 2012. ESA will provide to the Euclid mission the spacecraft (built by industry under contract), the launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Kourou base in Guyana, operations for at least 6 years, and mission archives. The Euclid Consortium will provide the scientific instruments for Euclid (VIS & NISP), the data processing and scientific analysis software and archiving as well as scientific leadership for the mission. The Consortium is comprised of nearly a 1000 scientists from hundreds of institutions in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and UK, as well as contributions from US laboratories.
UK Space Agency
The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. It is responsible for all strategic decisions on the UK civil space programme and provides a clear, single voice for UK space ambitions.
The UK Space Agency is responsible for ensuring that the UK retains and grows a strategic capability in the space-based systems, technologies, science and applications. It leads the UK's civil space programme in order to win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens.
The UK Space Agency:
Co-ordinates UK civil space activity
Encourages academic research
Supports the UK space industry
Raises the profile of UK space activities at home and abroad
Increases understanding of space science and its practical benefits
Inspires our next generation of UK scientists and engineers
Licences the launch and operation of UK spacecraft
Promotes co-operation and participation in the European Space programme
Dark Universe
For nearly 80 years now, astronomers have known about "dark matter"; matter than does not shine or reflect light and can only be detected through its gravitational influence. Scientists still do not know the true physical nature of dark matter, but its existence has been confirmed numerous times over the last few decades. In 1999, astronomers found evidence for an even stranger component to the dark universe, namely "dark energy" that appears to be driving the expansion of the Universe faster and faster. This "dark energy" makes up three quarters of the energy budget of the Universe; three times the energy associated with dark matter and over 20 times the energy in normal matter like atoms. There are many ideas of what it could be, but so far there is no compelling explanation for the nature of this mysterious substance in the Universe. Astrophysicists believe that the discovery of its very nature will revolutionize fundamental physics and our knowledge of the physical laws of nature.
Cosmic Vision
Cosmic Vision is ESA's long term space science programme and is designed to undertake frontier scientific research. The UK Space Agency, through its subscription to the mandatory Science Programme and its investment in building and operating the science payloads on the ESA spacecraft ensures that the UK's scientific community has access to world class space missions. Euclid and Solar Orbiter are the two medium (M-class) missions selected for ESA's Cosmic Vision programme 2015-2025.
For further information on the official adoption of Euclid by ESA please visit: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZS3BXH3H_index_0.html
For the press release on the recent funding for Solar Orbiter please visit: http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Illuminating the dark: Ahead with the Euclid missionPublic release date: 20-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Madeleine Russell madeleine.russell@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk 44-017-934-18069 UK Space Agency
UK teams working on the mission to study the "dark Universe" are being granted a planned 8.5M by the UK Space Agency to develop scientific instruments. This is following the formal adoption of the largest collaboration of astronomers in the world by the European Space Agency (ESA) to help build the Euclid satellite.
This is the final phase in the selection of Euclid as part of ESA's "Cosmic Vision" programme also strongly funded by the UK Space Agency. An army of physicists and engineers have been set in motion to build and fly this new mission by the end of this decade. Euclid will study the enigmatic dark matter and dark energy with great precision, tracing its distribution and evolution throughout the Universe.
The additional investment by the UK Space Agency has been awarded to the eight UK institutions involved in Euclid that will be part of an international collaboration of nearly a thousand scientists. The Euclid Consortium is the biggest astronomy collaboration ever created and is already bigger than the existing ESA Planck and GAIA missions. The 8.5M will support the UK teams in their lead roles in both of the instruments over the next 5 years (subject to confirmation following the next Spending Review).
The Euclid Consortium will provide two instruments to ESA. UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory is leading the development of the visible imaging instrument (VIS) and is being supported by more than 5M from the UK Space Agency. The Open University is receiving a grant for its involvement in the near infrared imaging and spectrograph instrument (NISP).
David Parker, Director of Technology, Science and Exploration at the UK Space Agency said:
"This is a huge mission from the importance of the data Euclid will collect to the size of the team involved in putting it into space. The UK is playing a considerable part in both of the instruments and the Science Ground Segment. It is a fantastic example of the leadership of our scientists and facilities. At the heart of the mission is one of the billion pound questions of physics and the UK Space Agency is proud to be funding the teams that are working to unlock some of the great mysteries of the Universe."
These state-of-the-art instruments, equipped with wide-field cameras, will create a huge amount of exceptional quality data over a large percentage of the sky. It will require sophisticated computer resources dedicated to analysing this data; looking for the miniscule signature of dark energy, which is difficult to locate even though dark energy is thought to make up 75% of the energy density in the Universe.
To enable this analysis, the UK Space Agency is also funding the UK's contribution to the programme's Science Ground Segment (SGS). This is being developed through a consortium of institutes comprising Edinburgh (lead), UCL, MSSL, Portsmouth, Oxford, Durham, Hertfordshire and Cambridge. The SGS will coordinate all Euclid data, and include hundreds of scientists at institutions across Europe.
Bob Nichol, Euclid Consortium Communications Lead at the University of Portsmouth said:
"This is great for UK astrophysics, really puts us at the forefront of this fundamental science alongside our European colleagues. We have key roles in building the eyes of Euclid and analysing its data to see the signatures of the dark energy and dark matter. We've all worked so hard for this day!"
In 2007 several mission concepts were selected for studies in response to a competitive call by ESA for 'Medium' class missions to occupy the first two launch slots in the Cosmic Vision plan. Euclid is now an official ESA mission and solidifies the Euclid Consortium at forefront of worldwide research into the "Dark Universe". Demonstrating its commitment to world-class science, the UK Space Agency has now confirmed major contributions to both of ESA's new science missions, Solar Orbiter and Euclid.
###
For further information, please contact:
Madeleine Russell
Press Officer
UK Space Agency
Email: madeleine.russell@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1793 418069
Bob Nichol
Euclid Consortium Communications Lead
ICG, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Email: bob.nichol@port.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 3117
Mobile: +44 (0)7963792049
Yannick Mellier
Euclid Consortium Lead
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Paris, France
Email: mellier@iap.fr
Phone: +33 1 44 32 81 40.
Images
Artist's impression of Euclid
Credit : ESA
Notes to Editors:
Euclid Mission
Euclid is a 1.2m space telescope, located at 2nd large Sun-Earth Lagrange point, and will perform two major surveys of the sky over at least 5 years. The wide survey will cover 40% of the whole sky and is focused on mapping the locations and shapes of billions of galaxies. The Euclid deep field will cover a patch of the sky approximately 100 times the size of the full Moon (or 15,000 times larger than the Hubble Ultra Deep Field), to unprecedented depths. The combination of depth and sky coverage will enable Euclid to detect very rare sources such as extremely high redshift quasars, and potentially the first galaxies that ever formed.
Euclid Consortium
Euclid was formally selected in October 2011 for flight, with the Euclid Consortium adopted to help build Euclid on June 20th 2012. ESA will provide to the Euclid mission the spacecraft (built by industry under contract), the launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Kourou base in Guyana, operations for at least 6 years, and mission archives. The Euclid Consortium will provide the scientific instruments for Euclid (VIS & NISP), the data processing and scientific analysis software and archiving as well as scientific leadership for the mission. The Consortium is comprised of nearly a 1000 scientists from hundreds of institutions in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and UK, as well as contributions from US laboratories.
UK Space Agency
The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. It is responsible for all strategic decisions on the UK civil space programme and provides a clear, single voice for UK space ambitions.
The UK Space Agency is responsible for ensuring that the UK retains and grows a strategic capability in the space-based systems, technologies, science and applications. It leads the UK's civil space programme in order to win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens.
The UK Space Agency:
Co-ordinates UK civil space activity
Encourages academic research
Supports the UK space industry
Raises the profile of UK space activities at home and abroad
Increases understanding of space science and its practical benefits
Inspires our next generation of UK scientists and engineers
Licences the launch and operation of UK spacecraft
Promotes co-operation and participation in the European Space programme
Dark Universe
For nearly 80 years now, astronomers have known about "dark matter"; matter than does not shine or reflect light and can only be detected through its gravitational influence. Scientists still do not know the true physical nature of dark matter, but its existence has been confirmed numerous times over the last few decades. In 1999, astronomers found evidence for an even stranger component to the dark universe, namely "dark energy" that appears to be driving the expansion of the Universe faster and faster. This "dark energy" makes up three quarters of the energy budget of the Universe; three times the energy associated with dark matter and over 20 times the energy in normal matter like atoms. There are many ideas of what it could be, but so far there is no compelling explanation for the nature of this mysterious substance in the Universe. Astrophysicists believe that the discovery of its very nature will revolutionize fundamental physics and our knowledge of the physical laws of nature.
Cosmic Vision
Cosmic Vision is ESA's long term space science programme and is designed to undertake frontier scientific research. The UK Space Agency, through its subscription to the mandatory Science Programme and its investment in building and operating the science payloads on the ESA spacecraft ensures that the UK's scientific community has access to world class space missions. Euclid and Solar Orbiter are the two medium (M-class) missions selected for ESA's Cosmic Vision programme 2015-2025.
For further information on the official adoption of Euclid by ESA please visit: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZS3BXH3H_index_0.html
For the press release on the recent funding for Solar Orbiter please visit: http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Texas-based convenience stores operator Valero Energy has signed a branding agreement with The Pantry that will spread the Valero?s flag throughout the Southeast.
As per the new deal, 143 properties will be converted to a newly created Valero and Kangaroo Express co-branded banner across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, reported CSNews.
In addition, the company said 25 additional sites in Florida will be branded with its standard teal and gold image.
With this move, Valero's coast-to-coast network will grow to nearly 5,400 retail and wholesale branded outlets.
San Antonio-based Valero has also entered into an unbranded supply agreement with The Pantry, the parent firm of Kangaroo Express, to supply additional unbranded sites in Florida.
North Carolina-based The Pantry operates more than 1,600 stores in 13 states of the US.
A man in Jeddah reads a newspaper on Sunday with an article about Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz's death as the country prepared to bury the former heir to the throne.
By msnbc.com staff and news services
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- As Saudi Arabia prepared to bury its former crown prince in Mecca on Sunday, questions swirled about how the world's largest oil producer would pass the baton to a younger generation of leaders. ?
Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz's death on Saturday meant that for the second time in less than 12 months the important U.S. ally has to choose a successor to 88-year-old King Abdullah.?
Unlike in European monarchies, the Saudi succession does not pass from father to eldest son, but has moved along a line of brothers born to Abdul-Aziz bin Saud. A previous crown prince, Sultan, died last October. ?The likely candidate is Prince Salman, 76.?
'Powerful conservative force': Saudi Arabia's next in line to throne dies
"There will be a meeting where the next crown prince will be decided. If you take a historical perspective it has always been done in an orderly and organized manner. Prince Salman fits the profile in many ways," said Khaled Almaeena, editor in chief of the Saudi Gazette.?
The appointment of a new crown prince is not likely to change the kingdom's position on foreign or domestic policy, but King Abdullah's new heir will face a range of major challenges when he one day becomes king.
Salman, who is seen as a pragmatist with a strong grasp of the intricate balance of competing princely and clerical interests that dominate Saudi politics, was named defense minister last year.?
Saudi prince Alwaleed's deal for Twitter is not a traditional investment, says Dan Primack, senior editor at Fortune Magazine.
Saudi Arabia-Bahrain union plan set to inflame tensions with Iran?
Salman is the current defense minister and was?governor of Riyadh, the country's capital, for more than four decades.
Analysts believe he shares many of Nayef's conservative views and is unlikely to challenge the religious establishment if made king. But he also has played more of a mediator role in Saudi politics while in charge of Riyadh.?
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia will allow women to vote and run for public office at the next election cycle in 2015. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
"There has been an impression that Nayef is more conservative because he was the guy dealing with threats and terrorism as interior minister and Salman was meeting with businessman and intellectuals as governor of Riyadh," said Sami al-Faraj, director of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies.?
"The reality is there is very little difference. Both are conservative and won't rock the boat," he added. "Nayef was just a behind-the-scenes guy and Salman is more public. One was implicit; the other explicit."?
But it is unclear whether Nayef's death will bring about the shift to put a younger member of the royal family in a traditional role as No. 3 in line for the throne. Among the possible contenders mentioned include King Abdullah's son Mitab, the head of the National Guard, and Nayef's son Mohammad, a senior official in the interior ministry.
Report: Saudi woman dies after campus protest
Grooming a next generation as potential rulers would mark an important shift in Saudi affairs by acknowledging that the country is moving toward a new era under the stewardship of a group raised with deeper Western connections and understandings.?
"The house of Saud will need to think about what would happen in the event the king became unwell, and there is no way on earth you would hand the crown prince role to a grandson in 48 hours time. You have to find an older prince," said Michael Stephens, researcher at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in Qatar.?
Whoever takes the helm in the coming years, Saudi Arabia will have to grapple with Tehran's regional ambitions as well as its nuclear program. Iran insists it does not seek nuclear weapons, but Saudi officials and their Western allies fear the country could develop an arsenal and significantly shift the balance of power in the region. One possible outcome could be a regional nuclear arms race with Saudi Arabia also seeking atomic weapons.?
Saudi Arabia is also facing Arab Spring-inspired internal pressures for political reforms and greater openness. King Abdullah has pledged billions of dollars to create more state jobs and offer other government-backed programs to try to appease calls for change.?
Neighboring Bahrain, meanwhile, has become a central issue for Saudi Arabia since a Shiite-led uprising last year against the ruling Sunni monarchy. Saudi forces led a Gulf military intervention to help prop up the dynasty in the strategic island nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. Saudi Arabia is now leading efforts for closer union with the country that would effectively unify key policies such as security and foreign relations. More than 50 people have died in Bahrain's unrest since February 2011.?
Reuters, The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.?
The winner of Egypt's presidential election may be known by Monday evening. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
By NBC's Charlene Gubash
ANALYSIS
The second voting day Sunday for Egypt?s first democratically elected president had a markedly low turnout, a showing that many attributed to disappointment with both lackluster candidates.
Scattered voters strolled into the Victoria School voting center without delay and quickly registered their choices for the two finalists in the presidential run-off: Ahmed Shafiq,?a Mubarak-era official, and Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist engineer.?
?They hate them both,? said Wael Ghoneimi, owner of an advertising agency.? ?It?s not the election we were waiting for for?30 years.??
Despite their individual preferences, all voters were concerned about post-election violence if Shafiq, the former prime minster,?should win.?
The presidential elections in Egypt are currently underway, just after the Egyptian high court this week suspended the nation's parliament. NBC News' Richard Engel reports on the recent developments in both Egypt and Syria.
?If Shafik wins, the situation will be very critical,? says Kareem Ali, a gynecologist and a supporter of Morsi, candidate of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.??
Physical therapist Zain Abdine also thinks the Muslim Brotherhood would protest a Shafiq victory.??They ask for democracy but they don?t play by the rules.? I fear there is going to be some violence in the street among the Islamists (if Shafiq wins).? But I have great faith in our armed forces.? They will be able to control whatever happens.?
Right now, the ruling Military Council is trying to do just that.? Reportedly, they will declare a new constitution annex defining the powers of the new president in the next two days.? Egypt?s former constitution had been suspended and was supposed to have been determined by a constitutional assembly.? Because the Muslim Brotherhood tried to dominate the 100-member constitutional assembly, plans to form the decision-making body broke down twice and effectively left the country without a functioning constitution.??
Cairo dispute triggers gunfight as Egypt votes
The constitution would have determined the right of the president to appoint ministers and other state officials and the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government.
The country could not be in greater political disarray.? A president will have been elected but without defined authority.? The composition of a constitutional assembly will likely be determined by the military.?
The predominantly Islamist, democratically elected parliament was dissolved by a recent Supreme Court decision.??The Muslim Brotherhood disputes the verdict, arguing that the ruling military council does not have the power to implement the court?s verdict.? The parliament building is now surrounded by military forces to prevent legislators from entering without permission.???
People have practiced democracy a lot since the revolution.? They have already voted five times.? But practice has not made perfect.? The results of two of those elections have already been overturned.? No wonder they head to the ballot box reluctantly, or not at all, as they enter what could be the beginning of a new chapter of turbulence rather than the democratic transition that reflected their deepest hopes.??? ?
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Public release date: 20-Jun-2012
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