In the days before the Pandora Papers exposed details of his foreign real estate holdings, King Abdullah II of Jordan retained a white-shoe law firm from the U.S. with an eye toward potential defamation claims, records show.

Why it matters: The records provide a glimpse into how some of the world's most powerful people have braced for fallout from a massive media investigation. It's exposed the ways the ultra-wealthy manage — and, in some cases, conceal — their substantial assets.

President Biden knows his administration messed up with French President Emmanuel Macron and is scrambling to make amends, three sources familiar with the internal deliberations told Axios.

Why it matters: The White House's secret deal with Australia last month left the French feeling betrayed and blindsided, and furious about the loss of a $60 billion submarine contract. Secretary of State Tony Blinken visited Macron on Tuesday; national security adviser Jake Sullivan is on his way to Paris too.

The son of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos announced his presidential bid Tuesday after weeks of speculation about his political future, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The announcement by Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. follows that of another high profile candidate, Philippine Senator and boxer Manny Pacquiao, upping the stakes for next year's election.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Zurich, Switzerland, this week to meet China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi, according to a National Security Council spokesperson.

Why it matters: It will be the most senior-level, in-person meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials since Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met their counterparts in Alaska in March, where a post-summit press conference devolved into a verbal sparring match.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that foreign tourists won't be allowed to visit the country until at least 2022, AP reports.

Why it matters: Morrison announced last week that the government plans to lift its 18-month COVID-19 travel ban for fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents in November. It was unclear, however, when tourists would be allowed to visit the country.

Kidnapping families, torturing kids for information on whom to ask for ransom, and dismembering those that don’t pay: This is how cartels and local gangs operate as they have diversified their business from drug trafficking to extortion.

Why it matters: The stories of survivors show the dire straits migrants face in their journey to the U.S., the one place they think can be a safe haven from the violence, climate disasters, political persecution and poverty that made them leave their place of birth.

Cuba's high literacy rates and the rapid rollout of the campaign that resulted in most residents learning to read and write has been a model for many other countries — even as Cubans continue to experience harsh censorship.

Why it matters: Cuba has a long and rich literary history, but the 1961 campaign that helped get the island to a 99% to 100% literacy rate left an important legacy that fostered literacy worldwide.

1. Vaccines: J&J asks FDA to approve booster shots — EU drug regulator recommends Pfizer booster for people 18 and older — Fauci: "False narrative" to think vaccine obsolete if Merck drug approved.
2. Health: Taxpayers funded development of antiviral pill — Vaccine mandates are working — for now — CDC releases guidelines for the holidays — Unanswered questions about COVID's origins.
3. Politics: New York's largest health care provider fires 1,400 unvaccinated workers — New England experiencing surge despite high vaccination rates.
4. Education: Judge temporarily blocks South Carolina ban on school mask mandates — UT docs show faculty frustration amid Gov. Abbott's latest orders — Health care workers and teachers caught up in booster confusion.
5. Variant tracker: Where different strains are spreading.

17 senators, including the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees, are calling on President Biden to expel 300 Russian diplomats if Moscow does not issue more diplomatic visas to make up for its ban on the U.S. Embassy hiring local Russian staff.

Why it matters: It would be the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats in U.S. history and would mark a major escalation in tensions between the two countries.

An independent commission said Tuesday that more than 200,000 minors have been sexually abused by Roman Catholic clergy members in France since 1950, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The report by Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, which was established at the request of the Catholic Church, comes amid a nationwide reckoning with sexual abuse in France.

India's Supreme Court ordered the country's disaster management agency to pay 50,000 rupees, around $671, to families for each COVID-19 death they suffered as a way to help them cope with the loss, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: More than 449,000 people have died from the virus in India, meaning the total payout could be more than $300 million. However, many experts have warned that the country's death toll may have been undercounted.

A Russian director and an actor blasted off into space on Tuesday to film the world's first movie in orbit, AP reports.

State of play: Director Klim Shipenko and actor Yulia Peresild took off to the International Space Station along with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. They are set to stay in orbit for 12 days filming segments for their movie, "Challenge."

The Chinese military has flown a record 145 fighter planes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) during the past four days, escalating Beijing's campaign of intimidation toward the self-governing island.

Why it matters: President Biden has emphasized the need to ensure his strategy of "vigorous competition" with China "does not veer into conflict." China's growing aggression toward Taiwan is drawing fresh fears of a catastrophic war and threatens to put that rhetoric to the ultimate test.

Venezuelan officials were preparing to reopen the country's border with Colombia on Tuesday, nearly three years after it closed amid a diplomatic struggle between the two nations.

Why it matters: Venezuela is in the grip of a yearslong hyperinflationary economic collapse, which has caused a massive humanitarian crisis and forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Many continue to head for the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking to escape the political, social and economic crisis.

The U.S. will not offer Iran concessions just to get nuclear talks restarted, a senior U.S. official told reporters, rejecting an Iranian demand for "a goodwill gesture," such as the release of $10 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

Why it matters: Indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran over a mutual return to the 2015 nuclear deal have been suspended since the Iranian elections in June. There is no set date for talks to resume, but the Iranians have signaled it could happen in early November.

The Ukrainian president may have pledged to reform the country's corrupt system of politics, but the Pandora Papers tell a different story.

Driving the news: Ukraine is the country with the highest number of politicians named in the leak of offshore data, which implicates hundreds of people linked to offshore companies — including President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Switzerland will soon become the 16th country to possess advanced F-35 jets — unless activists manage to thwart the $5.5 billion deal by forcing a referendum.

Why it matters: An activist group called "Schweiz ohne Armee" (GSoA) is teaming up with left-leaning political parties to campaign against the purchase, arguing that the jets are too expensive and threaten the concept of Swiss neutrality. One month into their campaign they’ve collected more than 25,000 signatures — one-quarter of the 100,000 needed for a referendum, with 17 months still to go.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili remains in jail after returning to the country ahead of municipal elections on Sunday despite having been sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for alleged abuse of office.

Driving the news: The U.S. State Department Monday urged Georgian authorities to “ensure that Mr. Saakashvili is afforded fair treatment.” Georgian authorities, meanwhile, have been attempting to signal that international pressure will have no effect.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the leaders implicated in the Pandora Papers — a massive leak of financial documents sifted through by an international consortium of journalists — and how they’re responding.

Russian President Vladimir Putin: A shell company purchased a $4.1 million apartment in Monte Carlo in 2003 for a woman named Svetlana Krivonogikh, who reportedly had an affair (and possibly a daughter) with Putin, per WaPo.