Context

• Clarify that environment variable propagation operational guidance is non-normative and should be documented by language implementations. (#5165)
• Clean up implementation guidelines for environment variable propagation carriers. (#5166)
• Remove caching behavior suggestions for environment variable propagation carrier implementations. (#5179)
• Mark "Environment Variables as Context Propagation Carriers" as Release Candidate. (#5142)

Traces

• Amend the description of Composite/Composable samplers. (#5161)

Logs

• Add ETW (Event Tracing for Windows) example mapping to the logs data model appendix, including the ETW level to SeverityNumber mapping. (#5159)

Profiles

• Add Profiles data model (data-model.md). (#4965)

Supplementary Guidelines

• Add non-normative supplementary guidelines for SDK self-observability. (#5135)

OTEPs

• Add OTEP proposing a central OpenTelemetry benchmarks repository. (#5118)
• Introduce Policies into the specification. (#4738)

New Contributors

• @swashtek made their first contribution in https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/5159
• @oindrilakha12-ui made their first contribution in https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/5194