The week at a glance...United States

San Diego

Filner seeks therapy: San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has announced that he will undergo two weeks of “intensive therapy” at a behavioral counseling clinic, amid multiple accusations of sexual harassment and growing calls for his resignation. “The behavior I have engaged in over many years is wrong,” said Filner at a press conference, admitting that he’d been disrespectful and intimidating toward women but denying charges of sexual harassment. “I must become a better person,” he added. Eight women have identified themselves as victims of Filner’s unwanted advances, which included groping, demands for kisses while he put them in headlocks, and requests that they not wear panties to work. Filner’s former communications director, Irene McCormack Jackson, has filed a sexual-harassment lawsuit. This week, the San Diego City Council voted unanimously to sue Filner to recover any costs if he is found liable in the lawsuit.

Sanford, Fla.

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Juror speaks: A juror in the George Zimmerman trial sparked controversy last week when she said in a television interview that the neighborhood watch volunteer “got away with murder.” Juror B29—identified only by her first name, Maddy—was the only minority on the six-person, all-female jury that acquitted Zimmerman in July of a murder charge in the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin. Prosecutors accused Zimmerman of being an armed vigilante who provoked a confrontation, but he said he shot the 17-year-old in self-defense as Martin was beating him. Maddy said she held out for a conviction “to the end,’’ but accepted other jurors’ arguments that there was “no proof’’ that Zimmerman intended to kill Martin. “You can’t put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty,” she said. Asked if the case should have gone to trial, Maddy said no. “I felt like this was a publicity stunt.’’

Chattanooga, Tenn.

Grand bargain: President Obama offered Republicans a new “grand bargain” this week that would couple an overhaul of the corporate tax system with more spending on infrastructure and job creation. In a speech at an Amazon.com warehouse, the president unveiled a plan for reforming the current business tax code, which he said “is riddled with loopholes and special interest breaks.” In addition to reducing the current corporate tax rate, he proposed a minimum tax on foreign earnings to prevent corporations from evading taxation by stashing their revenue overseas. In exchange, Obama is seeking GOP support to increase federal funding for infrastructure projects and job creation. In response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell scoffed at the proposal as a “further-left version of a widely panned plan he already proposed two years ago,” now tricked out with “extra goodies for tax-and-spend liberals.”

Cleveland

Plea deal: Ariel Castro is expected to be sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty last week to more than 900 charges related to the kidnapping of three Cleveland women, as part of a deal that spares him the death penalty. The former school-bus driver kidnapped Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight between 2002 and 2004 and imprisoned them in his home for a decade, repeatedly raping them and forcing Knight to miscarry by punching her in the stomach. Berry was able to escape Castro’s house in May by yelling to a neighbor for help, and then helped rescue DeJesus and Knight. The three women said in a joint statement that they were “satisfied” by Castro’s guilty plea, and were looking forward to moving on with their lives.

Washington D.C.

Prostitution sting: The FBI cracked down on child prostitution rings in 76 cities across the U.S., arresting 150 men and rescuing 105 children and teens over the course of three days. Most of the victims involved were between 13 and 17 years old, and came from either foster care homes or were considered runaways. Authorities said the youngest victim was 9 years old. Investigators targeted underage prostitutes who sought customers online or at places like casinos and truck stops, and then used them to track down their pimps. The rescued victims will now be placed in foster or group homes. Child sex trafficking remains “one of the most prevalent, violent, and unconscionable crimes in our country,” said Ronald Hosko, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.

Trenton, N.J.

GOP feud: A squabble broke out last week between two of the Republican Party’s potential presidential contenders after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie attacked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s libertarian foreign policy as “dangerous.” Christie said Paul’s opposition to National Security Agency surveillance was based on “esoteric” privacy concerns, and that people like Paul should come to New Jersey to face 9/11 widows and orphans. His comments set off a heated intraparty debate between the GOP’s libertarian wing and its national security hawks, as the two factions fight for control going into the 2016 presidential race. The fight quickly turned personal, as Paul attacked Christie for his “gimme, gimme, gimme” approach to Hurricane Sandy aid. Christie responded by blasting Paul for funneling pork-barrel spending to Kentucky—provoking a catty response from Paul. “This is the king of bacon talking about bacon,” said Paul, in an apparent dig at Christie’s weight.