diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index f8f544a25..4fb9569eb 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2003-07-15  Havoc Pennington  <hp@redhat.com>
+
+	* NEWS: update
+
+	* configure.in: 2.5.3
+	
 2003-07-12  Pablo Saratxaga  <pablo@mandrakesoft.com>
 
 	* configure.in: Added Walloon (wa) to ALL_LINGUAS
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index a0bd66d07..be7d04da5 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,39 @@
+2.5.3
+===
+
+ Thanks to Jordi Mallach, Padraig O'Briain, Rob Adams, Julio Merino,
+ Ben Jansens, Jurg Billeter, Ray Strode, marcus@freebsd.org, James
+ Laska, for contributions to this release. Thanks also to 
+ all the tireless translators.
+
+ - fixups to .desktop file
+ - activate window prior to grab end, avoiding
+   extra focus events
+ - add support for partial-width panels (fixes corner panel 
+   and xinerama window position constraints)
+ - added keybinding to toggle window as "always on top"
+ - support --disable-schemas-install option to configure
+ - destroy support for legacy GNOME 1.x hints; metacity 
+   no longer works with GNOME 1.x
+ - disable raise-on-click for mouse focus modes
+ - fix bug that broke many Javascript popup menus with mozilla
+ - allow "shaking loose" maximized windows, to move them 
+   between Xinerama heads or whatever
+ - honor desktop-wide double click timeout
+ - handle window placement properly for windows that 
+   start out maximized
+ - integrate Ximian patch to go ahead and log out after 4 minutes
+   even if a dialog is open
+ - fix a segfault
+ - fix bug where window groups weren't always kept up to date
+ - fix bug where focus got confused when switching workspaces
+   with mouse focus mode
+ - fix 64-bit crash on s390x
+ - chdir to user's homedir on startup
+ - keep window in fullscreen layer when its transients are focused
+ - fix keybindings bug when you had ScrollLock enabled
+ - many translation updates
+
 2.5.2
 ===
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 75e1bbbb2..e67ce2491 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ AM_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h)
 
 # 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987 
 # releases on a branch add a 4th version like 2.4.21.1
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(metacity, 2.5.2)
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(metacity, 2.5.3)
 
 # Honor aclocal flags
 ACLOCAL="$ACLOCAL $ACLOCAL_FLAGS"