diff --git a/core/core-documentation.el b/core/core-documentation.el
index 9d3a7b12c..35b00e8bc 100644
--- a/core/core-documentation.el
+++ b/core/core-documentation.el
@@ -202,10 +202,18 @@ preprocessors for the exported .org files."
          (org-html-htmlize-output-type 'css)
          (org-publish-project-alist
           `(("spacemacs"
-             :components ("spacemacs-doc"
+             :components ("spacemacs-news"
+                          "spacemacs-doc"
                           "spacemacs-doc-static"
                           "layers-doc"
                           "layers-doc-static"))
+            ("spacemacs-news"
+             :base-directory ,spacemacs-news-directory
+             :base-extension "org"
+             :publishing-directory ,(concat publish-target "news/")
+             :publishing-function org-html-publish-to-html
+             :headline-levels 4
+             :html-head ,header)
             ("spacemacs-doc"
              :base-directory ,spacemacs-docs-directory
              :base-extension "org"
diff --git a/core/core-load-paths.el b/core/core-load-paths.el
index e09ceb7c2..0c752b3be 100644
--- a/core/core-load-paths.el
+++ b/core/core-load-paths.el
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@
 (defconst spacemacs-docs-directory
   (expand-file-name (concat spacemacs-start-directory "doc/"))
   "Spacemacs documentation directory.")
+(defconst spacemacs-news-directory
+  (expand-file-name (concat spacemacs-start-directory "news/"))
+  "Spacemacs News directory.")
 (defconst spacemacs-assets-directory
   (expand-file-name (concat spacemacs-start-directory "assets/"))
   "Spacemacs assets directory.")
diff --git a/news/news01.org b/news/news01.org
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1a84ce0e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/news01.org
@@ -0,0 +1,435 @@
+#+TITLE: Newsletter #01: About the 0.200 release
+
+* Newsletter #01: About the 0.200 release                 :TOC_4_gh:noexport:
+ - [[#breaking-changes][Breaking changes]]
+   - [[#support-for-emacs-243-has-been-dropped][Support for Emacs 24.3 has been dropped]]
+   - [[#some-modifications-in-the-layer-format][Some modifications in the layer format]]
+   - [[#controlling-downloaded-packages][Controlling downloaded packages]]
+   - [[#key-bindings][Key bindings]]
+ - [[#whats-new-][What's new ?]]
+   - [[#startup-improvments][Startup improvments]]
+   - [[#improved-composability][Improved composability]]
+   - [[#improved-stability][Improved stability]]
+   - [[#lazy-installation-of-layers][Lazy installation of layers]]
+   - [[#support-for-ivy][Support for Ivy]]
+   - [[#better-transient-states][Better transient-states]]
+   - [[#more-debugging-tools][More debugging tools]]
+   - [[#new-keyboard-layouts][New keyboard layouts]]
+   - [[#directory-and-file-local-variables][Directory and file local variables]]
+   - [[#more-useful-abstraction][More useful abstraction]]
+   - [[#new-welcome-screen][New welcome screen]]
+   - [[#about-spacemacs-update-notifications][About Spacemacs update notifications]]
+   - [[#a-new-community-document][A new community document]]
+   - [[#the-spacemacs-shop][The Spacemacs shop]]
+ - [[#whats-next-][What's next ?]]
+   - [[#even-more-stability][Even more stability]]
+   - [[#more-consistent-window-behaviour][More consistent window behaviour]]
+ - [[#a-few-thanks][A few thanks]]
+
+* Breaking changes
+Before starting with the breaking changes let me begin with a few words about
+the motivation behind those changes. Spacemacs moves at an incredible pace
+thanks to a big and active community, the project already counts more than 400
+contributors! As such a lot of new ideas are proposed to constantly evolve and
+improve the project, some of them make a lot of sense and we give them priority
+over backward compatibility, this is especially true with key bindings. In this
+release a lot of changes has been done to the key bindings, a few of them are
+deep changes and anyone using the develop branch had to adapt themselves to
+these changes at some point, be it users, contributors or collaborators so you
+are not alone.
+
+** Support for Emacs 24.3 has been dropped
+The packages ecosystem moves even faster than Spacemacs and a lot of packages
+are now incompatible with the version 24.3 of Emacs which has been released
+in 2013. Supporting this version in Spacemacs is more and more work for
+maintainers so we decided to drop all the 24.3 related code in Spacemacs
+effectively raising the minimum Emacs version required to 24.4. We believe that
+users are able to switch to a newer version of Emacs, if you need help in this
+process you can try the Gitter chat, I'm sure you'll find solutions there.
+
+** Some modifications in the layer format
+We renamed =extensions= directories in layers to =local= and the file
+=extensions.el= is now ignored, their contents must be moved to the file
+=packages.el= and their package declarations must now set the keyword
+=:location= to =local=.
+
+_Before:_
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+;; in extensions.el
+(setq python-post-extensions
+  '(
+    nose
+    pylookup
+    python-compile
+    py-yapf
+    ))
+#+END_SRC
+
+_After:_
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+;; in packages.el
+(setq python-packages
+  '(
+    ;; skipping packages before...
+    (nose :location local)
+    (pylookup :location local)
+    ;; skipping packages after...
+    ))
+#+END_SRC
+
+The variables =<package>-excluded-packages= are now ignored, they have been
+replaced by the =:excluded= keyword in =<layer>-packages= variables.
+
+_Before:_
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+(setq vim-empty-lines-packages
+      '(
+        (vim-empty-lines-mode :location local)
+        ))
+
+(setq vim-empty-lines-excluded-packages
+      '(vi-tilde-fringe))
+#+END_SRC
+
+_After:_
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC  emacs-lisp
+(setq vim-empty-lines-packages
+      '(
+        (vim-empty-lines-mode :location local)
+        (vi-tilde-fringe :excluded t)
+        ))
+#+END_SRC
+
+A new file called =layers.el= is in charge of layers dependency, i.e. when a
+layer needs to declare additional layers. Previously this was done in the
+=config.el= file, to avoid errors you'll have to move the calls to the functions
+=configuration-layer/declare-layer= and =configuration-layer/declare-layers= to
+a dedicated =layers.el= file. An example can be found in the
+[[https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs/blob/564cbc40eda936985325c9b79088fbcb39d9a69d/layers/%2Bdistributions/spacemacs/layers.el][spacemacs distribution layer]].
+
+** Controlling downloaded packages
+The method to install all packages supported by Spacemacs has been improved. The
+old way was to set the variable =dotspacemacs-configuration-layers= to the value
+=all=. This method had several major drawbacks like forcing all layers to be
+marked as =used= and it triggered various bad side effects. We removed the
+support for the value =all=.
+
+A new variable =dotspacemacs-install-packages= is now dedicated to control what
+packages are downloaded by Spacemacs. Three behaviours are supported:
+- =used-only= (default) will download only the used packages
+- =used-but-keep-unused= will download only the used packages but won't uninstall
+  them if they become unused
+- =all= will download _all_ the supported packages by Spacemacs.
+
+** Key bindings
+Here is the scary section, the one feared by most users :-) Let be honest, there
+is a rather big amount of changes for users jumping from master 0.105 to 0.200.
+
+First of all the most visible change is for ~SPC SPC~ which triggers now ~M-x~
+instead of =avy= to jump to a character. The ~SPC~ key in Spacemacs is a central
+key as it acts as the leader key for _all_ the key bindings, it made sense to
+give the same sense of "root" key to the sequence ~SPC SPC~, so now ~SPC SPC~ is
+the central sequence to execute _any_ interactive function in Emacs.
+
+Where is the =avy= command then ? We reorganised from the ground up the prefix
+~SPC j~ for all jump commands. In the conventions a doubled key is often used
+for the default command under a given prefix, for instance ~SPC b b~ is for
+buffer selection, ~SPC f f~ for file selection etc... The "jump to character"
+command of =avy= is then under ~SPC j j~. Here is a detailed list of the new
+~SPC j~ prefix:
+- =avy= commands are now behind the prefix ~SPC j~ for =jump=:
+  - ~SPC j j~ to jump to a character in the buffer (works as an evil motion)
+  - ~SPC j l~ to jump to a line with avy (works as an evil motion)
+  - ~SPC j w~ to jump to a word in the current buffer (works as an evil motion)
+- the following key bindings have been moved:
+  - ~SPC j j~ to split a line has been moved to ~SPC j n~ (mnemonic is New line)
+  - ~SPC j h~ and ~SPC j l~ have been moved to ~SPC j 0~ and ~SPC j $~
+    respectively.
+  - ~SPC J~ to split a string or sexp has been moved to ~SPC j s~
+
+A lot of other handy commands are under this prefix, I let you discover them with
+the =which key= menus.
+
+Closing, deleting or killing things ? This can be a tough call to distinguish
+them and we can find such confusion in the Spacemacs key bindings, for instance
+we close a window but we delete a buffer and we can also kill a buffer. Whereas
+it can make sense for a lot of users, there are still users finding this
+confusing. So we decided to simplify the notion of "closing/deleting" things
+under the ~d~ key for =delete=. We moved ~SPC w c~ and ~SPC w C~ to ~SPC w d~
+and ~SPC w D~.
+
+More generally we tried to map prefixes ~SPC b~ and ~SPC w~ to the same actions
+and bring a convention with =avy= commands with the capital letter to manipulate
+windows and buffers. The result is detailed here:
+- ~SPC b k~ has been removed.
+- ~SPC b C-k~ (kill buffer matching regexp) is now ~SPC b C-d~
+- ~SPC b m~ (buffer move) has been removed because the functionality
+  is available via ~SPC w~ with ~SPC w h/j/k/l~, ~SPC w H/J/K/L~ and
+  ~SPC w M~.
+- ~SPC b K~ (kill other buffers) is now ~SPC b m~ to map with ~SPC w m~
+  (maximize buffer/window which effectively delete other windows).
+- ~SPC b D~ now kills a buffer using =ace-window=.
+- Buffer actions don't delete the windows by default, use the universal
+  prefix argument to do so, for instance ~SPC u SPC b d~ and ~SPC u SPC b D~
+  will delete the buffer and also the window. Another example is
+  ~SPC u SPC b m~ to maximize a buffer.
+
+=Helm= has a new friend in this release, it is called =ivy= and it has more and
+more adopters. Since we have now a new package capable of doing =helm= commands
+we decided to move all =helm= related command from the prefix ~SPC h~. ~SPC h~
+is now exclusively for _help_ commands and the following =helm= commands has
+been moved:
+- ~SPC h b~ for =helm-filetered-bookmarks~is now ~SPC f b~
+- ~SPC h l~ for =helm-resume= is now ~SPC r l~
+- ~SPC h L~ for =helm-locate-library= is now ~SPC f e l~
+
+The =git= related commands have been drastically simplified to leverage the
+=magit= dispatch menu. Instead of replicating all the =magit= dispatch keys
+under the ~SPC g~ prefix we now only define the key binding ~SPC g m~ to display
+the =magit= dispatch menu. We get several benefits by doing so: first we free up
+a lot of valuable keys under ~SPC g~, second we have now more consistent key
+bindings since we always use the =magit= dispatch menu. Previously we have some
+actions bound to different keys between ~SPC g~ and the =magit= dispatch menu
+accessible under ~?~. The new available keys allowed us to move some key
+bindings directly under ~SPC g~ like =git-link= which is now under ~SPC g l~,
+it makes more sense to have it under ~SPC g l~ since it is agnostic of the
+hosting platform (i.e. it works with =GitHub=, =GitLab= etc...).
+
+Spacemacs layouts now restrict the scope of the buffer list opened with
+~SPC b b~. Use ~SPC b B~ to list all the buffers of all the layouts. Also
+~1,2,...,9,0~ keys now select a layout and close the layout menu, use
+~C-1,C-2,...,C-9,C-0~ to switch to a layout and keep the menu opened.
+
+To conclude this section about key binding changes and breaking changes the
+=micro-states= in Spacemacs are dead, say hi to the =transient-states=. We took
+advantage of the =micro-states= refactoring to change the name to the more
+accurate new name =transient-states=, indeed thoses states leverage the notion
+of transient maps in Emacs. The refactoring replaces the custom back-end by
+=hydra= a powerful and very popular package to define transient maps. In effect
+the macro =spacemacs|define-micro-state= is deprecated and is replaced by the
+new =hydra= powered macro =spacemacs|define-transient-state=.
+
+* What's new ?
+** Startup improvments
+The layer system has been rewritten to index packages information, the startup
+time of Spacemacs should be reduced by 20~25%. Also this refactoring will better
+scale as we add new layers and packages to the distribution.
+
+** Improved composability
+The =spacemacs= distribution layer has been split into several layers under
+the =spacemacs= directory. The user can now very easily customize her Spacemacs
+experience by choosing the =spacemacs-base= distribution and using only the
+=spacemacs= layers she wants.
+
+An exhaustive list of all the =spacemacs= layers:
+- spacemacs-completion
+- spacemacs-editing
+- spacemacs-editing-visual
+- spacemacs-evil
+- spacemacs-language
+- spacemacs-layouts
+- spacemacs-misc
+- spacemacs-org
+- spacemacs-ui
+- spacemacs-ui-visual
+
+For people wanting an even more bare Emacs experience try the distribution
+layer =spacemacs-bootstrap= which installs only essential packages like
+=use-package=, =which-key=, etc...
+
+** Improved stability
+This is one of the Achilles' heel of Spacemacs. We rely on bleeding edge version
+of packages from =melpa= repository to install a fresh version of Spacemacs. If
+the repository is down then no sugar, try again later.
+
+With 0.200 we introduce [[https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs-elpa-mirror][mirrors]] for all =elpa= repositories used by Spacemacs.
+If one of them is down then Spacemacs falls back on the mirror hosted on GitHub.
+Obviously the fall-back repository should not be used as a primary repository
+and should only be used when official =elpa= repositories are down.
+
+** Lazy installation of layers
+A feature borrowed to [[https://github.com/bbatsov/prelude][Prelude]] distribution and adapted to the layers, it
+allows to install a layer and all its packages when opening a new file with a
+supported extension.
+
+For instance, when opening an Elixir file with extension =.ex= Spacemacs will
+ask to install the =elixir= layer if it is not already used. The =elixir= layer
+is automatically added to the dofile so it won't be uninstalled after a restart.
+
+By default this feature is _disabled_, you have to opt-in for it by setting
+the variable =dotspacemacs-enable-lazy-installation= to one of the following
+values:
+- =unused= to lazy install only layers not listed in
+  =dotspacemacs-configuration-layers=
+- =all= to lazy install any layer supporting lazy installation (i.e. even the
+  used layers won't be installed at startup until you open a file with a
+  supported extension).
+
+** Support for Ivy
+The community has made a wonderful work to bring [[https://github.com/abo-abo/swiper][ivy]] support to Spacemacs.
+
+Want to switch from =helm= to =ivy= ? This is as simple as adding the =ivy=
+layer to your dotfile and reloading it with ~SPC f e R~!
+
+The level of feature of the =ivy= layer is pretty on par with the =helm= layer,
+this is a fantastic work and it demonstrates all the power of a community-driven
+configuration. I'm really excited by this new feature and how it is so easy to
+enjoy it. Nice work guys!
+
+** Better transient-states
+=Transient-states= replace the =micro-states=. They are powered by [[https://github.com/abo-abo/hydra][hydra]]
+making =hydra= part of the bootstrap packages (pillars of the distribution).
+=Hydra= is now 100% supported in Spacemacs and does not require hacks to
+work correctly.
+
+We tried to get consistent =transient-states= in all the layers by keeping
+the same documentation strings format everywhere.
+
+** More debugging tools
+Emacs comes with lots of tools to help the user to debug their configuration.
+Spacemacs adds several concepts which can make harder for a user to debug
+his configuration, especially the layer system.
+
+In this new release we are eager to introduce new easy way to debug your
+configuration:
+- press ~SPC q d~ to restart Emacs in debug mode with command line parameter
+  =--debug-init= fed in for you
+- press ~SPC q D~ to restart Emacs with a selected list of packages to load,
+  in this mode Spacemacs is completely disabled so you get the perfect way
+  to test wether a bug comes from Spacemacs configuration or not.
+- press ~SPC h I~ to open an org buffer with an issue template, fill it then
+  press ~C-c C-c~ to submit it with your default internet browser.
+
+Along with these new key bindings, new Spacemacs specific command line
+parameters are available to help you change the scope of an issue investigation:
+- =--no-layer= deactivates all the layers _except_ the distribution layer
+- =--distribution= allows to change temporarily the distribution
+
+This is a good time to remind you about the other useful Spacemacs specific
+command line parameters:
+- =--profile== will display profiling information on startup
+- =--timed-requires= will display the time taken by each =require= commands
+- =--adv-timers n= will display any load time greater than =n=
+
+** New keyboard layouts
+A new layer =keyboard-layout= aims to provide the tools to define more easily
+new keyboard layouts. The =0.200= release ships with support for =bépo= and
+=dvorak= layouts.
+
+Be sure to follow the =README.org= of the =keyboard-layout= layer for more
+information about layout definition.
+
+** Directory and file local variables
+[[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Directory-Variables.html][Per-directory and file local variables]] are a standard feature of Emacs, we try
+to leverage them starting with 0.200. Some layers support several tools to do
+the same thing, for instance in the =ruby= layer both =rspec= and =ruby-test=
+are supported to run tests; the =haskell= layer supports several completion
+back-ends like =intero= and =ghci=. Those tools or back-ends are project
+specific so providing only a global value for them is not enough. With 0.200
+these layers become compatible with directory local variables so the test engine
+for =ruby= or the completion back-end for =haskell= can be setup differently for
+different directories (i.e. projects).
+
+Supporting directory and file local variable dynamically greatly improves the
+flexibility of Spacemacs and make it an even better choice to handle various
+types of projects. We don´t support multiple options for the sake of supporting
+them but for a more robust solution capable to deal easily with your day-to-day
+requirements.
+
+** More useful abstraction
+We have even more abstraction of useful concepts in 0.200 like jumping to the
+definition of a variable or opening a REPL.
+
+Like text searching tools, there is now the concept of jump handlers, each mode
+can set a list of jump handlers and Spacemacs will try them in order to get you
+to a symbol definition. This new abstraction alows to merge the different
+jumping tools under the same key binding, for instance =dumb-jump=, =tags=
+etc...
+
+All supported REPLs are now registered in a list and you can run any registered
+REPL with ~SPC a '~.
+
+** New welcome screen
+The contents of the welcome screen is now centered with a new footer.
+
+Sizes of lists in the welcome screen can be customized independently for each
+list with the variable =dotspacemacs-startup-list=, for instance the following
+value will display a maximum of 5 items for the recent files list and a maximum
+of 7 items for the projects list:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+(setq dotspacemacs-startup-lists '((recents  . 5)
+                                   (projects . 7)))
+#+END_SRC
+
+** About Spacemacs update notifications
+In previous versions Spacemacs checked for a new version at every startup of
+Emacs and every 6 hours. It was [[https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs/issues/6692][stressing the GitHub infrastructure]] enough to
+make GitHub throttle down the traffic for the repository.
+
+In this version we changed the notification frequency and took several measures
+to reduce the =git= commands monitored by GitHub:
+- reduce number of required git commands per check from 3 to 1
+- remove recurrent version check every 6 hours, i.e. the check happens only
+  at startup
+- rate limit the checks to once per day
+- change default value of variable =dotspacemacs-check-for-update= to =nil=
+- make function =spacemacs/check-for-new-version= interactive so checking
+  for a new version can be done on demand.
+
+** A new community document
+At the root of the project directory the new file =COMMUNITY.org= describes
+the values of the project and the moderation rules. There is also an exhaustive
+list of the moderation actions taken by collaborators.
+
+If you want automatic check of new version you have now to opt-in by setting
+=dotspacemacs-check-for-update= to =t=.
+
+** The Spacemacs shop
+You can now show your support for Spacemacs by buying tee-shirts and goodies
+in the new [[https://shop.spreadshirt.com/spacemacs-shop][Spacemacs shop]]!
+
+* What's next ?
+** Even more stability
+=Elpa= mirrors are a good start but it does not fix the bleeding edge packages
+issue, especially when installing a fresh version of Spacemacs.
+
+For 0.201 we plan to introduce stable snapshots of =elpa= repositories, a new
+installation of Spacemacs will always install packages from this stable source.
+Users will then be able to manually trigger an upgrade of packages if they
+want the bleeding edge versions but they always be able to rollback to the
+previous stable state if required.
+
+** More consistent window behaviour
+One of the main focus for 0.201 will be to integrate =emacs-purpose=. It is a
+package to display buffer in the same windows. The current pull request is very
+popular and I'm sure you'll like what it will bring to the Spacemacs experience.
+
+* A few thanks
+This first newsletter is a great opportunity to thanks the Emacs community and
+more specifically:
+
+- =Justin Burkett= (aka [[https://github.com/justbur][justbur]]) and =Fabien Dubosson= (aka [[https://github.com/StreakyCobra][StreakyCobra]])
+  who were collaborators during several months. This version would not be so
+  awesome without their dedicated involvement. We wish them all the success in
+  their future projects.
+
+- =Boris= (aka [[https://github.com/d12frosted][d12frosted]]) who joined =TheBB= and myself as collaborator.
+
+- Of course the unique =Eivind Fonn= (aka [[https://github.com/TheBB][TheBB]]) without his constant support
+  Spacemacs could not be successful and I think I would have burn-out a long
+  time ago.
+
+- All the package maintainers, especially =Oleh Krehel= (aka [[https://github.com/abo-abo][abo-abo]]) for the
+  great help with =ivy= and obviously =Frank Fischer= (aka [[https://bitbucket.org/lyro/][lyro]]) the author
+  of =evil=.
+
+- In no specific order: =Diego Berrocal= (aka [[https://github.com/CestDiego][CestDiego]]), [[https://github.com/bmag][bmag]], [[https://github.com/NJBS][NJBS]],
+  =Eugene Yaremenko= (aka [[https://github.com/JAremko][JAremko]]), [[https://github.com/travisbhartwell][Travis B. Hartwell]], =Tristan Hume=
+  (aka [[https://github.com/trishume][trishume]])
+
+- All the Spacemacs community, you are the heart of Spacemacs.