MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – The Wisconsin state Assembly on Friday passed a Republican plan to curb public sector union power over the fierce objections of protesters, setting the stage for a showdown with Senate Democrats who fled the state last week to prevent a vote in that chamber.

After two all-night debating sessions and an eleventh hour Democratic bid for a compromise, the Republican-dominated Assembly abruptly ended debate early Friday and approved the bill by a vote of 51 to 17.

The outcome of the vote was greeted by chants of "it's not over yet" and "we are here to stay" from the hundreds of protesters who have converged on Wisconsin to fight a proposal they fear could encourage similar measures in other states and cripple the American labor movement.

More than 50,000 demonstrators poured into the state capital of Madison over the weekend to protest against the plan. Hundreds continued to protest inside the Capitol on Thursday, turning the building into an indoor campground.

"This is not democracy!" chanted protesters massed just down the hall from the Assembly chamber before the final vote.

The protesters shouted "thank you, thank you" at Democratic Assembly members as they emerged after the vote.

Newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who has said the measure is critical to restoring Wisconsin's financial health, hailed the approval in the lower house of the state legislature.

Approval in the Assembly was delayed by Democratic amendments but never in doubt. But passage will not ease the Senate standoff over a plan that has generated widespread protests among Wisconsin teachers and other union members.

Republicans hold a 19-14 Senate majority but need a quorum of 20 to vote on spending bills. All the Democrats left the state for Illinois last Thursday because they feared they could be compelled to attend the Senate if they remained.

Wisconsin Republicans earlier sent police on Thursday on an unsuccessful search for the runaways. State patrol officers were dispatched to the Democrats' homes on suspicion that some have been sleeping in their own beds at night.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he had hoped the Democrats could be convinced to return, although he acknowledged the officers cannot arrest them.

"It's a gesture that shows we're still serious and a call of the house should be honored," Fitzgerald told the website Wispolitics.com.

Walker has set a deadline of Friday for approval of the measure to give the state time to refinance bonds and make a payment on state debt that is due by March 15. He says the bill is necessary to close a budget deficit of $137 million for this fiscal year and $3.6 billion in the next two years.

OTHER STATES CONSIDER UNION CURBS

Democratic lawmakers and unionized public employees said the Walker plan is an attempt to bust the unions and choke off funding to organized labor, the largest source of funding to the Democratic Party.

If Republicans prevail in Wisconsin, other states could be inspired to take on powerful public unions. Wisconsin-inspired curbs on union rights have been debated in the legislatures of other states including Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Kansas.

In Indiana, Democrats boycotting the state legislature appeared to score a victory on Wednesday when a "right to work" law that would restrict unions was put aside until next year.

But Republicans proposed a rule change to extend a reading deadline on the bills from this Friday until next Friday, March 4, to keep the bills alive, said John Schorg, media relations director for the Indiana house Democrats.

U.S. state and local governments are struggling to balance budgets after the recession decimated their finances. Other states like Texas, Arizona and Ohio are relying mainly on cuts in spending, while Minnesota and Illinois are raising taxes.

The Wisconsin changes sought by Walker would make state workers contribute more to health insurance and pensions, end government collection of union dues, let workers opt out of unions and require unions to hold recertification votes every year.

Collective bargaining would be allowed only on wage increases up to the rate of inflation.

(Reporting by James Kelleher and Jeff Mayers. Editing by John Whitesides and David Bailey)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A 20-year-old Saudi student has been arrested in Texas in a bomb plot that may have targeted former President George W. Bush and nuclear plants, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, who was admitted into the United States in 2008 on a student visa and was attending college in Lubbock, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday by FBI agents, the Justice Department said.

He was accused of terrorism charges involving the purchase of chemicals and equipment to make a bomb, with potential targets that included nuclear power plants. One of his e-mails included the Dallas address of Bush. Another cited three former U.S. military members who had been stationed at the Abu Ghraib prison, where Iraqis faced abuses by their American jailers.

Department officials said there was no evidence the suspect was part of a militant group and he apparently had been acting alone. U.S. officials have been concerned about individuals acting alone to commit attacks in the United States.

U.S. officials said Aldawsari described his desire for violent jihad and martyrdom in blog postings and in a personal journal that listed tasks to do such as obtaining fake U.S. documents and renting several cars to hide bombs in them.

Aldawsari also sent himself an e-mail titled "Tyrant's House," in which he listed the Dallas address for Bush, who moved there after leaving office in 2009. Apart from publishing his memoirs, the former president has largely stayed out of the limelight.

The FBI received a report on February 1 from a chemical supplier about an attempt by Aldawsari to buy concentrated phenol, which has legitimate uses but can also can be used to make the explosive trinitrophenol, known as picric acid.

The shipment was sent to a freight company but the firm returned it to the supplier and called the police, the Justice Department said. Aldawsari told the supplier he was connected to a university and was doing "off-campus, personal research."

SUSPECTS FACES UP TO LIFE IN PRISON

If convicted, Aldawsari faces up to life in prison. He is due to make an initial appearance in court on Friday in Texas.

U.S. officials said Aldawsari has been researching online how to build a bomb using several chemicals as ingredients, and acquired most of the ingredients and the necessary equipment, an FBI agent said in a court affidavit.

In December and January, he purchased concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids, a gas mask, a Hazmat suit, a soldering iron kit, glass beakers and flasks, wiring, a stun gun, clocks and a battery tester, according to the affidavit.

It said Aldawsari also e-mailed himself instructions on how to convert a cellular phone into a remote detonator and how to prepare a booby-trapped vehicle using items available in every home.

One of his e-mails contained a message stating that "one operation in the land of the infidels is equal to ten operations against occupying forces in the land of the Muslims," according to the affidavit.

FBI agents in a legally authorized search of Aldawsari's apartment this month found a notebook that appeared to be a diary or journal, it said.

According to the affidavit, excerpts from the journal indicated that he had been planning to commit a terrorist attack in the United States for years.

It quoted one of his entries as saying, "And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for Jihad."

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones was sentenced on Thursday to a year's probation for his role in a 2007 Las Vegas strip club brawl that left one man paralyzed from the waist down and two others wounded.

The sentence on a gross misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct means Jones, 27, who pleaded guilty, must stay out of trouble for a year, perform 200 hours of community service, take anger management classes and submit to random drug tests.

The charges stem from an altercation in February 2007 when Jones, who was with the NFL's Tennessee Titans at the time, visited Las Vegas during the National Basketball Association's All-Star weekend.

According to police reports, the incident occurred at the Minxx strip club, after Jones "made it rain" by throwing money into the air.

Minutes later, a brawl ensued outside the club and Arvin Kenti Edwards, an associate of Jones, began shooting into a group of people, according to police.

Edwards has entered an "Alford plea" to the charge of attempted murder, meaning he will not contest the charge.

Robert Langford, an attorney for Jones, said the player was "looking forward to having this chapter behind him."

"He's grown up, and realized that there's more to life than just another big party. He doesn't go to strip clubs in Las Vegas anymore -- not even in Cincinnati," Langford said.

(Reporting by Timothy Pratt; Editing by Dan Whitcomb)