diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b1770bac7..d21c5c361 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,16 @@
+## [v1.6.0] - 2026-02-25
+
+### 🚀 Features
+
+- Use new UTF8-compatible (w)char codecs
+- Use UTF-8 and UTF-16 codeset defaults
+
+### 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+- Set input stream codecs in preUnmarshal()
+- Use CESU-8 encoding with older Yoko
+- Use Latin-1 charset to encode op name
+
 ## [v1.5.3] - 2026-01-09
 
 ### 🚀 Features
@@ -11,11 +24,13 @@
 - Garbled GIOP message logging
 - Skip bounds check for UTF-8/UTF-16/UCS-2
 - Correctly identify UTF-8 2-byte and 3-byte sequences
+
 ## [v1.5.2] - 2025-11-18
 
 ### 🐛 Bug Fixes
 
 - Handle SystemException from createLocateRequestDowncall
+
 ## [v1.5.1]
 
 ### Bug Fixes
diff --git a/README_RELEASE.md b/README_RELEASE.md
index d7dec77e7..690cb1a37 100644
--- a/README_RELEASE.md
+++ b/README_RELEASE.md
@@ -27,7 +27,20 @@ The Yoko project now has a comprehensive, automated release process similar to G
 
 ## 🚀 Quick Start
 
-### Create a Release (4 Simple Steps)
+### Create a Release via GitHub (Recommended)
+   - Go to Actions → Release workflow
+   - Click "Run workflow"
+   - Enter version: e.g. `1.5.3` (without v prefix)
+
+   This will automatically:
+   - Create a release branch
+   - Update CHANGELOG.md (if needed)
+   - Build and test
+   - Create an annotated tag `v1.5.3`
+   - Create the GitHub release with all artifacts
+   - Merge to main and cleanup
+
+### Create a Release Locally (4 Simple Steps)
 
 1. **Bump the version (if needed)**
    ```bash
@@ -44,34 +57,16 @@ The Yoko project now has a comprehensive, automated release process similar to G
    ```bash
    # Update for all commits since last tag
    ./gradlew updateChangelog
-   
-   # Or update for specific tag
-   ./gradlew updateChangelogForTag -PreleaseTag=v1.5.3
    ```
 
 3. **Commit and Push**
    ```bash
-   git add CHANGELOG.md
+   git add -p CHANGELOG.md
    git commit -m "chore: prepare release v1.5.3"
    git push origin main
    ```
 
 4. **Create Release** (choose one method):
-
-   **Method A: Automated via GitHub UI (Recommended)**
-   - Go to Actions → Release workflow
-   - Click "Run workflow"
-   - Enter version: `1.5.3` (without v prefix)
-   
-   This will automatically:
-   - Create a release branch
-   - Update CHANGELOG.md (if needed)
-   - Build and test
-   - Create an annotated tag `v1.5.3`
-   - Create the GitHub release with all artifacts
-   - Merge to main and cleanup
-   
-   **Method B: Manual via Gradle**
    ```bash
    ./gradlew release
    ```
@@ -96,7 +91,6 @@ All release tasks are accessible from Gradle:
 
 # Update CHANGELOG with git-cliff (manual)
 ./gradlew updateChangelog
-./gradlew updateChangelogForTag -PreleaseTag=v1.5.3
 
 # Verify prerequisites
 ./gradlew verifyReleasePrerequisites
@@ -119,7 +113,7 @@ All release tasks are accessible from Gradle:
 The project version is managed in `gradle.properties`:
 
 ```properties
-version=1.5.2
+version=1.5.3
 ```
 
 ### Bumping the Version
@@ -307,25 +301,6 @@ This dry-run:
 - ✅ Tests the build
 - ✅ **Makes NO changes** to git or remote repositories
 
-### Local Testing
-
-Test locally without pushing to origin:
-
-```bash
-# Create test branch locally
-git checkout -b release/1.5.3-test
-
-# Test CHANGELOG generation
-./gradlew updateChangelogForTag -PreleaseTag=v1.5.3-test
-
-# Test build
-./gradlew clean build test
-
-# Clean up
-git checkout main
-git branch -D release/1.5.3-test
-```
-
 ## 🔄 Rolling Back Releases
 
 ### Automated Rollback
diff --git a/build-release.gradle b/build-release.gradle
index 962d113ea..b4cd1134f 100644
--- a/build-release.gradle
+++ b/build-release.gradle
@@ -93,61 +93,19 @@ task updateChangelog {
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new GradleException("git-cliff not found. Install from: https://git-cliff.org/docs/installation")
         }
-        
-        println "Updating CHANGELOG.md using git-cliff..."
+
+        println "Updating CHANGELOG.md using git-cliff for v${version}..."
         
         // Run git-cliff to update only unreleased changes, preserving existing entries
         // Use --unreleased to only add new changes since the last tag
         exec {
-            commandLine 'git-cliff', '--config', cliffConfig.absolutePath, '--unreleased', '--prepend', changelogFile.absolutePath
+            commandLine 'git-cliff', '--config', cliffConfig.absolutePath, '--tag', "v${version}", '--unreleased', '--prepend', changelogFile.absolutePath
         }
         
         println "✅ CHANGELOG.md updated successfully"
     }
 }
 
-// Task to update CHANGELOG for a specific version tag
-task updateChangelogForTag {
-    group = 'release'
-    description = 'Updates CHANGELOG.md for a specific version tag using git-cliff'
-    
-    def changelogFile = file('CHANGELOG.md')
-    def cliffConfig = file('cliff.toml')
-    
-    inputs.file cliffConfig
-    outputs.file changelogFile
-    
-    doLast {
-        // Check if git-cliff is available
-        try {
-            exec {
-                commandLine 'git-cliff', '--version'
-                standardOutput = new ByteArrayOutputStream()
-            }
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            throw new GradleException("git-cliff not found. Install from: https://git-cliff.org/docs/installation")
-        }
-        
-        // Get the version tag from project or system property
-        def versionTag = project.hasProperty('releaseTag') ?
-            project.property('releaseTag') :
-            "v${version}"
-        
-        println "Updating CHANGELOG.md for tag: ${versionTag}"
-        
-        // Run git-cliff with tag, using --unreleased and --prepend to preserve existing entries
-        exec {
-            commandLine 'git-cliff',
-                '--config', cliffConfig.absolutePath,
-                '--tag', versionTag,
-                '--unreleased',
-                '--prepend', changelogFile.absolutePath
-        }
-        
-        println "✅ CHANGELOG.md updated for ${versionTag}"
-    }
-}
-
 // Task to interactively bump the semantic version
 task bumpVersion {
     group = 'release'
diff --git a/cliff.toml b/cliff.toml
index b842058b6..64194d29c 100644
--- a/cliff.toml
+++ b/cliff.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 2025 IBM Corporation and others.
+# Copyright 2026 IBM Corporation and others.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ body = """
 {% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
     ### {{ group | striptags | trim | upper_first }}
     {% for commit in commits %}
-        - {% if commit.scope %}*({{ commit.scope }})* {% endif %}\
-            {% if commit.breaking %}[**breaking**] {% endif %}\
+        - {% if commit.breaking %}[**breaking**] {% endif %}\
             {{ commit.message | upper_first }}\
     {% endfor %}
 {% endfor %}
+
 """
 # Remove leading and trailing whitespaces from the changelog's body.
 trim = true
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 90e456f97..019c38eff 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 
 group=io.openliberty.yoko
 symbolicNamePrefix=org.apache.yoko.
-version=1.5.3
+version=1.6.0
diff --git a/yoko-core/src/main/java/org/apache/yoko/orb/OB/GIOPOutgoingMessage.java b/yoko-core/src/main/java/org/apache/yoko/orb/OB/GIOPOutgoingMessage.java
index f5f39a109..92fd3472c 100644
--- a/yoko-core/src/main/java/org/apache/yoko/orb/OB/GIOPOutgoingMessage.java
+++ b/yoko-core/src/main/java/org/apache/yoko/orb/OB/GIOPOutgoingMessage.java
@@ -34,9 +34,6 @@
 import org.omg.IOP.ServiceContext;
 import org.omg.IOP.TaggedProfile;
 import org.omg.IOP.TaggedProfileHelper;
-import sun.nio.cs.ISO_8859_1;
-
-import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
 import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.ISO_8859_1;