National News from NPR

It's not clear yet whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will be a good thing or a bad thing for Democrats. That's why President Obama always treads carefully when asked about them.

"People are frustrated, and that frustration has expressed itself in a lot of different ways," he said Tuesday on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. "It expressed itself in the Tea Party. It's expressing itself in Occupy Wall Street."

Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday in an unusual terrorism trial, involving a young Massachusetts man named Tarek Mehanna. What makes this case unusual isn't the alleged terrorist's plot. It's his defense: the First Amendment.

Mehanna's lawyers asked the judge Wednesday to instruct the jury about free-speech rights under the U.S. Constitution. Prosecutors say 29-year-old Mehanna tried to help al-Qaida by promoting its cause in an online blog. Mehanna's attorneys say he was just exercising his right to free speech — and isn't a terrorist at all.

Downtown Oakland, Calif., has settled down after a violent Tuesday night, when police clashed with protesters with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

European leaders met through the night in Brussels and finally emerged Thursday with a debt deal they say is wide-ranging. They're hopeful it will guide the continent out of the widening debt crisis that started with Greece. But it's unclear whether they have the political will and economic flexibility to implement it.

Cities around the U.S. have been responding differently to the Occupy Wall Street protests. The violent street clashes in Oakland, Calif., have not been typical.

Another prisoner exchange is expected in the Middle East on Thursday. Israel is freeing 25 Egyptian prisoners — mostly smugglers and drug dealers — in exchange for an Israeli-American who was detained in Egypt four months ago on suspicion of spying for Israel. Israel has denied the accusation.