NEW YORK (AP) — The younger brother and business partner of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Friday to charges he doctored documents for years, but he insisted he knew nothing about his brother’s historic Ponzi scheme and was ‘‘in total shock’’ when he found out about it. An emotional Peter Madoff, 66, entered the plea in a deal that permits him to remain free on $5 million bail pending his Oct. 4 sentencing. He agreed not to contest a 10-year prison sentence and, several hours later, emerged from the courthouse into a rush of cameras and a car that awaited him.

Justice won't prosecute Holder for contempt

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department declared Friday that Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to withhold information about a bungled gun-tracking operation from Congress does not constitute a crime and he won’t be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. The House voted Thursday afternoon to find Holder in criminal and civil contempt for refusing to turn over the documents. President Barack Obama invoked his executive privilege authority and ordered Holder not to turn over materials about executive branch deliberations and internal recommendations.

GOP plots 2013 strategy on health care repeal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Turned away at the Supreme Court, congressional Republicans sketched a strategy Friday to repeal the nation’s health care law in 2013 that requires a sweeping election victory carrying Mitt Romney to the presidency and the party at least to narrow control of the Senate. Romney sought to turn the court’s decision upholding the two-year-old law into a campaign battle cry, saying the 5-4 ruling had injected ‘‘greater urgency’’ into his challenge to President Barack Obama. ‘‘I think many people assumed that the Supreme Court would do the work that was necessary in repealing Obamacare,’’ he said, adding that the justices ‘‘did not get that job done.’’

Congress passes student loans, highway jobs bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress emphatically approved legislation Friday preserving jobs on transportation projects from coast to coast and avoiding interest rate increases on new loans to millions of college students, giving lawmakers campaign-season bragging rights on what may be their biggest economic achievement before the November elections. The bill sent for President Barack Obama’s signature enables just over $100 billion to be spent on highway, mass transit and other transportation programs over the next two years, projects that would have expired Saturday without congressional action. It also ends a bare-knuckle political battle over student loans that raged since spring, a proxy fight over which party was best helping voters muddle through the economic downturn.

Egypt president-elect vows to fight for authority

CAIRO (AP) — In front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, Egypt’s first Islamist and civilian president-elect vowed Friday to fight for his authority and symbolically read an oath of office on Cairo’s Tahrir Square on the eve of his official inauguration. Mohammed Morsi’s strongly worded speech was a show of defiance as he gears up to power struggle with the country’s ruling generals who passed a constitutional declaration taking over major presidential powers in the days before election results were announced after a bitter campaign.

Remains of 2nd person found in Colo. fire wreckage

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Searchers sifting through damage left by the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history have found the remains of a second person at a home where another person was found dead earlier. Police Chief Pete Carey said Friday that searchers found the remains at a house where two people had been reported missing after shifting winds forced thousands to flee their homes Tuesday night.

AP sources: Some at Gitmo could go to Afghanistan