From David Brunnstrom, Reuters:  The Libyan rebel delegation, led by Mahmoud Jebril of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC), is expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on July 13, a NATO diplomat said.

From Stephen Castle, the International Herald Tribune:  There are few better illustrations of those continuing turf wars than the reaction to the death of Bin Laden.

From Stephen Castle, the New York Times:  Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned European officials on Thursday that uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East could produce governments hostile to the West, and he criticized the European Union’s energy policy.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was in Turkmenistan last week negotiating ways the Caspian country's vast natural gas reserves might ameliorate European dependence on Russian resources through the so-called Southern Energy Corridor.

From Eurasianet.org:  NATO, not the European Union, initiated the idea of inviting Uzbekistan’s controversial leader, Islam Karimov, to visit Brussels, according to an aide to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

From Charlemagne, the Economist:  It is the biggest, closest and richest friendship in the world, and its most important military alliance. America and Europe account for half of global GDP and nearly one-third of trade. Each side of the North Atlantic has more than 1 trillion invested in the other.

From Charlemagne, the Economist:  Last year’s Lisbon treaty, promoted as a means of making the EU more efficient, has in fact made this divide permanent by creating a second figurehead for Europe.

From Bruno Waterfield, the Telegraph:  Mr. [Herman] Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council which brings together EU leaders, has been accused of supporting a French proposal to set up a "special task force" on strategic relations that would rival Lady Ashton, who is supposed to be in charge of Europe's foreign policy.