diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 1adbaf061e..6e4c73b7ea 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 major=3
 minor=0
-release=7
+release=8
 
 # PRRTE required dependency versions.
 # List in x.y.z format.
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ flex_min_version=2.5.4
 # requirement is that it must be entirely printable ASCII characters
 # and have no white space.
 
-greek=
+greek=rc1
 
 # If repo_rev is empty, then the repository version number will be
 # obtained during "make dist" via the "git describe --tags --always"
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ date="Nov 24, 2018"
 # Version numbers are described in the Libtool current:revision:age
 # format.
 
-libprrte_so_version=3:7:0
+libprrte_so_version=3:8:0
 
 # "Common" components install standalone libraries that are run-time
 # linked by one or more components.  So they need to be versioned as
diff --git a/docs/news/news-v3.x.rst b/docs/news/news-v3.x.rst
index 10a707b93c..c450463712 100644
--- a/docs/news/news-v3.x.rst
+++ b/docs/news/news-v3.x.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,21 @@ PRRTE v3.x series
 This file contains all the NEWS updates for the PRRTE v3.x
 series, in reverse chronological order.
 
+3.0.8 -- TBD
+------------
+- PR #2100: Update NEWS and VERSION
+- PR #2099: maintain correct ref count of child jobs
+- PR #2097: Correctly parse map-by modifiers
+- PR #2086: Propertly compute number of procs when not given
+- PR #2082: Multiple commits
+   - Enclose XML output in a high-level tag
+   - Add support for show_help XML output
+   - Properly build the nidmap
+- PR #2076: Multiple commits
+   - Register the singleton's nspace with the PMIx server
+   - Fix data type declaration in data server
+
+
 3.0.7 -- 13 Nov 2024
 --------------------
 .. important:: This release represents the expected end of