Hello, everyone! 

Justin Go, the father of Michelle Alyssa Go, wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times coinciding with the anniversary of her death on Jan. 15, 2022. Michelle was tragically shoved in front of an oncoming subway train at the Times Square station in Manhattan.

Her family is returning to the city to pay their respects and deal with legal, estate and criminal issues related to her death. The event has continued to have an impact on the city, with plans announced by the Mayor and Governor to help homeless New Yorkers living in subways. The family hopes to one day see the New York City that Michelle loved and not just associate it with her death. 

An excerpt from Justin reads, “I once thought that hatred and murder were maladies that affected only other people. Now my family are those other people. Murder has stained our family history.” 

He concludes with, “Real change comes with meaningful preventive measures. This requires, among other things, adequate and continued funding for housing, treatment and other programs. We need to begin working on those solutions now, urgently, together as a community. We need to have true resolve and continued commitment so that we can honor the spirit of Michelle’s life.”

• Governor Maura Healey has appointed Yvonne Hao as the new economic secretary of Massachusetts. Hao is the first person of color and only the second woman to hold this position in 20 years. Hao's professional background includes experience as a Bain Capital operating partner, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of PillPack, a trustee of Williams College, co-founder of private equity firm Cove Hill Partners, and director on the boards of Cargurus, Flywire, and Beth Israel Lahey Health.

• Chinatown celebrations in Hawaii: Chinatown businesses in Honolulu celebrated the return of Chinese New Year festivities which have been absent for the past three years. The celebrations kicked off on Friday with fireworks, lion dances, and the traditional blessings, Choy Cheng. The city has made efforts to improve Chinatown, including adding police officers, conducting community cleanups, relocating the River of Life Mission, and ramping up the CORE program to get homeless people medical care and resources. The lunar parade took place on Saturday, Jan. 14. 

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• Police officer case: Federal prosecutors have moved to dismiss a case against a New York City police officer, Baimadajie Angwang, who was charged with divulging intel to Chinese consular officials about Tibetans living in the United States. This update on the case comes about two years after he was accused of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government and several other federal crimes. Prosecutors asked that the indictment against Officer Angwang be dismissed "in the interests of justice" because of the emergence of "additional information bearing on the charges." But the filing does not provide details about that information, and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment.

• Indonesia trials start for soccer incident: Five men are on trial in Indonesia on charges of negligence following the deaths of 135 people at a soccer stadium in October 2021. The incident occurred after police fired tear gas inside the Kanjuruhan stadium in East Java's Malang City, causing a panicked run for the exits that resulted in many people being crushed. The crowd surge was among the world's worst sporting disasters. It happened after fans flooded the pitch after Arema FC was defeated in a home match for the first time in 23 years by rival Persebaya Surabaya. Police officers fired tear gas when fans flooded the pitch. The match at Kanjuruhan stadium was attended only by Arema fans, as organizers had banned Persebaya supporters because of Indonesia's history of violent soccer rivalries.

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• China population dip: China's population fell last year for the first time in six decades, marking a decline of roughly 850,000 people for a population of 1.41175 billion in 2022. This possibly makes India the world's most populous nation, but India has not officially confirmed this as they only collect population figures every 10 years and their latest census, originally scheduled for 2021, has been delayed due to the pandemic. Long-term, U.N. experts see China's population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019. This has led domestic demographers to lament that China will get old before it gets rich, slowing the economy as revenues drop and government debt increases due to soaring health and welfare costs.

• A magic tour: Jackson Wang announced that he will be going on his first ever North American headline tour in support of his second studio album “Magic Man.” The tour, titled "I’m not a mystery, I’m just magic," will make a stop on Apr. 16 and Apr. 23 for both Coachella weekends. The soloist will then venture off to Los Angeles at Shrine Auditorium on Apr. 26. From there, he will visit San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago and Toronto before finishing up in New York on May 11. Tickets for the tour will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. local time on Jan. 20 and a pre-sale will take place on Jan. 18. Wang started 2023 with a London headline show and is set to play Paris on Jan. 15 and a February headline show in Dubai.

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• GOT a new album: GOT the beat, the first subunit of SM Entertainment’s all-star female ensemble Girls On Top (GOT), released their debut mini-album “Stamp On It” on Sunday. Their album contains six tracks total: “Stamp On It,” “Goddess Level,” “Alter Ego,” “Rose,” “Outlaw” and “MALA.” It marks the subunit’s first release since their debut single “Step Back” over a year ago. The South Korean label aims to feature its female artists in various combinations and subunits. GOT’s first lineup is composed of soloist BoA, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, Red Velvet’s Seulgi, and Wendy and Aespa’s Winter and Karina.

• Netflix has recently announced that it will renew its widely-acclaimed comedy series “Mo” for a second and final season.
   
• BlockBerry Creative, the agency that represents the 11-member K-pop girl group LOONA, has seen four of its members terminate their exclusive contracts. 
   
• BTS member Jimin is reportedly preparing to release his debut solo album in February.
   
• KFC Thailand recently stirred controversy after posting on social media about its fried chicken incense sticks for Lunar New Year.
   
• The city of Seoul, South Korea has started a metaverse platform for its residents and tourists.