WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress Tuesday that hard-won gains in the war zone are too fragile to promise any troop pullouts beyond this summer, holding his ground against impatient Democrats and refusing to commit to more withdrawals before President Bush leaves office in January.

Security is getting better, and Iraq's own forces are becoming more able, Petraeus said. But he also ticked off a list of reasons for worry, including the threat of a resurgence of Sunni or Shiite extremist violence. He highlighted Iran as a special concern, for its training and equipping of extremists.

In back-to-back appearances before two Senate committees, Petraeus was told by a parade of Democrats that, after five years of war, it was past time to turn over much more of the war burden to the Iraqis. Those senators said Iraq will not attain stability until the United States makes the decision to begin withdrawing in large numbers and forces the Iraqis to settle their differences.

Petraeus didn't budge. He said he had recommended to Bush that he complete, by the end of July, the withdrawal of the 20,000 extra troops. Beyond that, the general proposed a 45-day period of "consolidation and evaluation," to be followed by an indefinite period of assessment before he would recommend any further pullouts.

YORK, Pa. -- A 2-year-old girl died after being beaten with a video game controller by her mother's boyfriend and new charges are expected, police said Tuesday.

Darisabel Baez was pronounced dead late Monday at Hershey Medical Center, police Lt. Ron Camacho said.

The girl's mother, Neida E. Baez, 19, called for an ambulance Sunday saying her boyfriend, Harve L. Johnson, had brought the unconscious child to her, limp and wet from an attempt to revive her in a bathtub, a police affidavit said.

Johnson acknowledged beating the girl with a video game controller but did not say why, police said. Baez said Johnson had abused the girl in the past and said she heard the girl scream after Johnson beat her Sunday, according to the affidavit.

Johnson, 26, was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and other counts.

Baez was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Detective Dana Ward said Baez was charged because she did not intervene or try to get help for Darisabel.

WASHINGTON -- The pilot of a freighter that caused a huge oil spill in the San Francisco Bay was confused about where he was headed and immediately regretted setting off that foggy morning, according to transcripts released Tuesday.

"Sorry captain, I misunderstood the chart, I thought that was the center," Capt. John Cota told the master of the Cosco Busan just after the 900-foot container ship sideswiped a support of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Nov. 7.

"Yeah, it's foggy, I shouldn't have gone. It's still, uh ... I'm not going to do well on this one," Cota said some minutes later after steering the freighter into anchorage as it disgorged 53,000 gallons of oil into the fragile ecosystem of the bay.

Cota, who's pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence and violating environmental laws, declined to testify at a two-day National Transportation Safety Board hearing that began Tuesday. His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Transcripts of the voyage data recorder show the pilot and crew struggling in English and Chinese to read navigational devices amid anxiety about thick fog.

"I've tried to target five times, never plots. That's not good for fog," Cota complains as they take off.

NEW YORK -- A priest accused of stalking Conan O'Brien pleaded guilty Tuesday to disorderly conduct.

The Rev. David Ajemian, 46, admitted in Manhattan Criminal Court that he sent letters and DVDs to the NBC talk-show host's home and office, and "I also sent mail to the home of Mr. O'Brien's parents." He said he never meant to cause anxiety or to upset anyone.

"I recognize that what I did was disorderly and I'm glad the people of New York have accepted that," Ajemian said as he left court. "I plan to return to the Archdiocese of Boston and I hope to return to ministry duties."

Judge Rita Mella ordered Ajemian to pay a $95 court charge and signed a two-year order of protection directing him to stay away from O'Brien.

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A grand jury transcript released Monday described an Orange County jail in disarray, with deputies watching television, playing video games and taking naps while inmates were allowed to use brutality and intimidation to keep order in the cellblocks.

The conclusions are contained in 7,000 pages of transcripts from a special criminal grand jury empaneled by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to investigate the 2006 death of an inmate at the Theo Lacy Jail, as well as how the Orange County Sheriff's Department handled the incident.

The grand jury found that while one of the ranking guards at the jail in Orange exchanged personal cell-phone text messages and watched the television show "Cops," a 41-year-old computer technician was stomped and beaten to death not far from the glass-walled guard station.

Though the pummeling lasted as long as 50 minutes, guards said they were unaware until it was over. While jail logs from that day said guards checked the cellblock where beating occurred every 30 minutes, the grand jury concluded that the area had not been checked for five hours.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Eight teenagers have been arrested on charges alleging they beat another teen in an "animalistic attack" so they could make a videotape to post on YouTube.

Seven of them remained in juvenile detention Tuesday, authorities said. A boy who was charged as an adult had been released on bail.

Victoria Lindsay was attacked on March 30 by six teenage girls when she arrived at a friend's home, authorities said.

One of the girls struck the 16-year-old victim on the head several times and then slammed her head into a wall, knocking her unconscious, according to an arrest report.

Later, according to a clip of the video that was released by the Polk County sheriff's office, the teens can be seen blocking a door and hitting Victoria.

"It's absolutely an animalistic attack," Sheriff Grady Judd said Tuesday on NBC's "Today." "They lured her into the home for express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet."