Dear All, This is the first of what I hope is a long-running monthly newsletter with (mostly mathematical) updates from yours truly. Now that I have retired from ICTP, I am working on the launch of an independent website with all my stuff. Please check it out. https://frvillegas.github.io/ I also opened a zulip site that I hope will be useful for discussions on various mathematical projects organized by topics. You can access it here: