Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Thursday about the NAFTA trade deal and agreed there was an opportunity to update the accord to the mutual benefit of all signatories, the Mexican government said. [...] "Finally, they agreed to remain in close contact to ensure the process of (NAFTA) modernization is successful for the benefit of both nations," Pena Nieto's office said.

Canada is having a rare moment on Broadway — “Come From Away,” a musical written by a married Canadian couple, set in Newfoundland and celebrating Canadian decency, has just opened at the Schoenfeld Theater. The show was already drawing an unusually high number of Canadian ticket-buyers, even before this week, when it hit the apotheosis of Canadianness: The country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, attended with a group of 600 allies and diplomats.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with his cabinet in Calgary this week to assess options, and has tried to act pre-emptively by shuffling his cabinet. [...] In this volatile, unpredictable and complex operating environment, the Freeland appointment may have been a necessary response to the incoming Trump administration, but it will not be sufficient. In terms of action, how might Canada’s new foreign minister best minimize risk, manage vulnerabilities and maximize opportunity? 

Contrary to its designer's expectations, the rolling research tracking the relative strength of national brands, now known as the Anholt/GFK Roper Nation Brands Index, is one of the most boring runs of numbers known to humanity. Unlike the Billboard music chart or the "Who's Hot" list in the celebrity-watch magazines, the nation brands index is astonishingly stable. 

The Canadian PM said that good relations with the United States were compatible with Canada maintaining strong political and trade ties with Cuba. “Canada has always been a true and sincere friend of Cuba and we have never seen a contradiction between being great friends of Cuba and being good friends and partners with the United States,” he said.