diff --git a/gnu/packages/cups.scm b/gnu/packages/cups.scm
index a74e4097eb..3acf9dfd46 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cups.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cups.scm
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 (define-public cups-filters
   (package
     (name "cups-filters")
-    (version "1.0.61")
+    (version "1.0.68")
     (source (origin
               (method url-fetch)
               (uri
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
                               "cups-filters-" version ".tar.xz"))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "1bq48nnrarlbf6qc93bz1n5wlh6j420gppbck3r45sinwhz5wa7m"))
+                "0dx4assqzqdi0q4j7z5s7xzzvzxnd5c1njd9139a1h353qrcr5fi"))
               (modules '((guix build utils)))
               (snippet
                ;; install backends, banners and filters to cups-filters output
diff --git a/gnu/packages/glib.scm b/gnu/packages/glib.scm
index 688c0b61d0..1d43895f5c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/glib.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/glib.scm
@@ -207,14 +207,14 @@ dynamic loading, and an object system.")
 (define gobject-introspection
   (package
     (name "gobject-introspection")
-    (version "1.42.0")
+    (version "1.44.0")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
-             (uri (string-append "http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/"
+             (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/"
                    "gobject-introspection/" (version-major+minor version)
                    "/gobject-introspection-" version ".tar.xz"))
              (sha256
-              (base32 "1xwm7wmr9r9wp6xljb3bckx3a4siybavaq39w46ly7gpskxfv8iv"))
+              (base32 "1b972qg2yb51sdavfvb6kc19akwc15c1bwnbg81vadxamql2q33g"))
              (patches (list
                        (search-patch "gobject-introspection-cc.patch")
                        (search-patch
@@ -243,14 +243,7 @@ dynamic loading, and an object system.")
     (arguments
      `(;; The patch 'gobject-introspection-absolute-shlib-path.patch' causes
        ;; some tests to fail.
-       #:tests? #f
-       #:phases
-        (alist-cons-before
-         'configure 'patch-paths
-         (lambda _
-           (substitute* "giscanner/sourcescanner.py"
-             (("GUIX_GCC_PATH") (which "gcc"))))
-         %standard-phases)))
+       #:tests? #f))
     (home-page "https://wiki.gnome.org/GObjectIntrospection")
     (synopsis "Generate interface introspection data for GObject libraries")
     (description
@@ -313,14 +306,14 @@ The intltool collection can be used to do these things:
 (define itstool
   (package
     (name "itstool")
-    (version "1.2.0")
+    (version "2.0.2")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
              (uri (string-append "http://files.itstool.org/itstool/itstool-"
                                  version ".tar.bz2"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "1akq75aflihm3y7js8biy7b5mw2g11vl8yq90gydnwlwp0zxdzj6"))))
+               "0fh34wi52i0qikgvlmrcpf1vx6gc1xqdad4539l4d9hikfsrz45z"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (propagated-inputs
      `(("libxml2" ,libxml2)
@@ -350,7 +343,7 @@ translated.")
 (define dbus-glib
   (package
     (name "dbus-glib")
-    (version "0.102")
+    (version "0.104")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
              (uri
@@ -358,7 +351,7 @@ translated.")
                              version ".tar.gz"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "177j5p2vrvpmzk2xrrj6akn73kvpbvnmsjvlmca9l55qbdcfsr39"))))
+               "1xi1v1msz75qs0s4lkyf1psrksdppa3hwkg0mznc6gpw5flg3hdz"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (inputs
      `(("dbus" ,dbus)
@@ -377,14 +370,15 @@ by GDBus included in Glib.")
 (define libsigc++
   (package
     (name "libsigc++")
-    (version "2.3.1")
+    (version "2.4.1")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
-             (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/libsigc++/2.3/libsigc++-"
-                                 version ".tar.xz"))
+             (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/libsigc++/"
+                                 (version-major+minor version) "/"
+                                 name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "14q3sq6d43f6wfcmwhw4v1aal4ba0h5x9v6wkxy2dnqznd95il37"))))
+               "1v0rvkzglzmf67y9nkcppwjwi68j1cy5yhldvcq7xrv8594l612l"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
                      ("m4" ,m4)))
@@ -403,7 +397,7 @@ has an ease of use unmatched by other C++ callback libraries.")
 (define glibmm
   (package
     (name "glibmm")
-    (version "2.42.0")
+    (version "2.44.0")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
              (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/glibmm/"
@@ -411,7 +405,7 @@ has an ease of use unmatched by other C++ callback libraries.")
                                  "/glibmm-" version ".tar.xz"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "15rk3az8jh3rdwlc3lxjljbnh60drj3ka9574zd39lkqfgcq6l4q"))))
+               "1a1fczy7hcpn24fglyn4i79f4yjc8s50is70q03mb294bm1c02hv"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (arguments
      `(#:phases (alist-cons-before
@@ -485,8 +479,7 @@ useful for C++.")
 (define-public python-pygobject
   (package
     (name "python-pygobject")
-    (version "3.12.2")                  ;last version that works with
-                                        ;gobject-introspection 1.38
+    (version "3.16.1")
     (source
      (origin
        (method url-fetch)
@@ -495,8 +488,7 @@ useful for C++.")
                            "/pygobject-" version ".tar.xz"))
        (sha256
         (base32
-         "08m5yad1hjdax4g39w6lgjk4124mcwpa8fc5iyvb8nygk8s3syky"))))
-    ;; 3.14.0: 0m1d75iwxa6k1xbkn6c6yq5r10pxnf7i5c2a5yvwsnab7ylzz7kp
+         "1hqyma73w0lnjcgx68kawhnq84aq92xlkdqphrlc2ppia38dm5kx"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (native-inputs
      `(("which" ,which)
@@ -549,14 +541,6 @@ useful for C++.")
         (base32
          "1symyzbjmxvksn2ifdkk50lafjm2llf2sbmky062gq2pz3cg23cy"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (arguments
-     '(#:phases (alist-cons-before
-                 'build 'set-cc
-                 (lambda _
-                   ;; Set $CC so that g-ir-scanner works.
-                   (setenv "CC" "gcc")
-                   #t)
-                 %standard-phases)))
     (native-inputs
      `(("glib" ,glib "bin") ; uses glib-mkenums
        ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
index 33ce2e8717..871cde8491 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
@@ -499,13 +499,6 @@ some form of information without getting in the user's way.")
        ("glib:bin" ,glib "bin")
        ("gobject-introspection" ,gobject-introspection)
        ("intltool" ,intltool)))
-    (arguments
-     `(#:phases 
-       (alist-cons-before
-        'build 'pre-build
-        (lambda* _
-          (setenv "CC" "gcc"))
-        %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "https://wiki.gnome.org/Libpeas")
     (synopsis "GObject plugin system")
     (description
@@ -675,11 +668,7 @@ dealing with different structured file formats.")
                 (string-join (find-files (assoc-ref inputs "gdk-pixbuf") 
                                          "libpixbufloader-.*\\.so") " ")
                 "> " loaders-directory ".cache")))))
-         (alist-cons-before
-          'build 'pre-build
-          (lambda* _
-            (setenv "CC" "gcc"))
-          %standard-phases)))))
+         %standard-phases))))
     (native-inputs
      `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
        ("glib" ,glib "bin")                               ; glib-mkenums, etc.
@@ -1385,7 +1374,7 @@ engineering.")
 (define-public vala
   (package
     (name "vala")
-    (version "0.26.1")
+    (version "0.28.0")
     (source (origin
               (method url-fetch)
               (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/" name "/"
@@ -1393,9 +1382,15 @@ engineering.")
                                   name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "0swyym2papln0f62ah05dpvq3vv6fssap26jq2zqp9dkkaqsn1w4"))))
+                "0zwpzhkhfk3piya14m7p2hl2vaabahprphppfm46ci91z39kp7hd"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (arguments '(#:make-flags '("CC=gcc")))
+    (arguments
+     '(#:phases
+       (modify-phases %standard-phases
+         (add-before 'check 'set-cc
+                     (lambda _
+                       (setenv "CC" "gcc")
+                       #t)))))
     (native-inputs
      `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
        ("flex" ,flex)
@@ -1437,13 +1432,6 @@ libraries written in C.")
     (propagated-inputs
      `(("gtk+" ,gtk+)                             ;required by vte-2.91.pc
        ("gnutls" ,gnutls)))                       ;ditto
-    (arguments
-     `(#:phases
-       (alist-cons-before
-        'build 'pre-build
-        (lambda* _
-          (setenv "CC" "gcc"))
-        %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnome.org/")
     (synopsis "Virtual Terminal Emulator")
     (description
@@ -1542,14 +1530,6 @@ configuration storage systems.")
                (base32
                 "02k66lpc4cmgygj66n8zcy59bggy7yzm3v4hni9xqplgva9d2yw8"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (arguments
-     '(#:phases (alist-cons-before
-                 'build 'set-cc
-                 (lambda _
-                   ;; Set $CC so that g-ir-scanner works.
-                   (setenv "CC" "gcc")
-                   #t)
-                 %standard-phases)))
     (native-inputs
      `(("glib" ,glib "bin")              ;for glib-mkenums and glib-genmarshal
        ("gobject-introspection" ,gobject-introspection)
@@ -1581,13 +1561,7 @@ JSON, such as arrays and objects.")
      '(#:configure-flags
        (list (string-append "--with-xkb-base="
                             (assoc-ref %build-inputs "xkeyboard-config")
-                            "/share/X11/xkb"))
-       #:phases
-       (alist-cons-before
-        'build 'set-cc
-        (lambda _
-          (setenv "CC" "gcc")) ; for g-ir-scanner.
-        %standard-phases)))
+                            "/share/X11/xkb"))))
     (native-inputs
      `(("glib:bin"              ,glib "bin") ; for glib-mkenums, etc.
        ("gobject-introspection" ,gobject-introspection)
@@ -1698,8 +1672,7 @@ library.")
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (outputs '("out" "doc"))
     (arguments
-     `(#:make-flags '("CC=gcc") ; for g-ir-scanner
-       #:configure-flags
+     `(#:configure-flags
        (list (string-append "--with-html-dir="
                             (assoc-ref %outputs "doc")
                             "/share/gtk-doc/html")
@@ -1762,7 +1735,6 @@ and the GLib main loop, to integrate well with GNOME applications.")
     (outputs '("out" "doc"))
     (arguments
      `(#:tests? #f ; FIXME: Testing hangs.
-       #:make-flags '("CC=gcc") ; for g-ir-scanner.
        #:configure-flags
        (list (string-append "--with-html-dir="
                             (assoc-ref %outputs "doc")
@@ -1926,12 +1898,7 @@ keyboard shortcuts.")
                          (("/bin/true") (which "true")))
                        (substitute* "src/Makefile.in"
                          (("if test -w \\$\\(DESTDIR\\)\\$\\(prefix\\)/;")
-                          "if test -w $(DESTDIR)$(localstatedir);"))))
-         (add-before 'build 'set-cc
-                     (lambda _
-                       ;; Set $CC so that g-ir-scanner works.
-                       (setenv "CC" "gcc")
-                       #t)))))
+                          "if test -w $(DESTDIR)$(localstatedir);")))))))
     (native-inputs
      `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
        ("gobject-introspection" ,gobject-introspection)
@@ -2015,7 +1982,6 @@ permission from user. ")
      `(;; The tests want to write to $HOME/.cache/geocode-glib, which doesn't
        ;; work for the builder.  Punt.
        #:tests? #f
-       #:make-flags '("CC=gcc") ; for g-ir-scanner
        ))
     (native-inputs
      `(("glib:bin" ,glib "bin") ; for glib-mkenums
@@ -2103,7 +2069,6 @@ service via the system message bus.")
      `(;; The tests want to write to $HOME/.cache/geocode-glib, which doesn't
        ;; work for the builder.  Punt.
        #:tests? #f
-       #:make-flags '("CC=gcc") ; for g-ir-scanner
        #:configure-flags
        `(;; No introspection for now, as it wants to install to
          ;; gobject-introspection's own directory and I don't know how to easily
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gtk.scm b/gnu/packages/gtk.scm
index 67838a3752..0f7ba863e8 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gtk.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gtk.scm
@@ -353,8 +353,7 @@ in the GNOME project.")
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (outputs '("out" "doc"))
    (arguments
-    '(#:make-flags '("CC=gcc") ; for g-ir-scanner
-      #:configure-flags
+    '(#:configure-flags
       (list (string-append "--with-html-dir="
                            (assoc-ref %outputs "doc")
                            "/share/gtk-doc/html"))
@@ -450,8 +449,7 @@ is part of the GNOME accessibility project.")
       ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
       ("python-wrapper" ,python-wrapper)))
    (arguments
-    `(#:make-flags '("CC=gcc")
-      #:configure-flags
+    `(#:configure-flags
       (list "--with-xinput=yes"
             (string-append "--with-html-dir="
                            (assoc-ref %outputs "doc")
@@ -476,7 +474,7 @@ application suites.")
 (define-public gtk+
   (package (inherit gtk+-2)
    (name "gtk+")
-   (version "3.16.0")
+   (version "3.16.2")
    (source (origin
             (method url-fetch)
             (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/" name "/"
@@ -484,7 +482,7 @@ application suites.")
                                 name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
             (sha256
              (base32
-              "1si6ihl1wlvag8qq3166skr9fnm9i33dimbfry1j628qzqc76qff"))))
+              "1yhwg2l72l3khfkprydcjlpxjrg11ccqfc80sjl56llz3jk66fd0"))))
    (propagated-inputs
     `(("at-spi2-atk" ,at-spi2-atk)
       ("atk" ,atk)
@@ -626,7 +624,7 @@ library.")
 (define-public pangomm
   (package
     (name "pangomm")
-    (version "2.34.0")
+    (version "2.36.0")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
              (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/" name "/"
@@ -634,7 +632,7 @@ library.")
                                  name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "0hcyvv7c5zmivprdam6cp111i6hn2y5jsxzk00m6j9pncbzvp0hf"))))
+               "1w11d05nkxglzg67rfa81vqghm75xhy6j396xmmp5mq8qx96knd8"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
     (propagated-inputs
@@ -675,7 +673,7 @@ toolkit.")
 (define-public gtkmm
   (package
     (name "gtkmm")
-    (version "3.14.0")
+    (version "3.16.0")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
              (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/" name "/"
@@ -683,7 +681,7 @@ toolkit.")
                                  name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "12z4g2in82nk92nfjs2hmrdcwbav8v3laz1813x2dhkf5jk2ixfr"))))
+               "036xn22jkaf3akpid7w23b8vkqa3xxqz93mwacmyar5vw7slm3cv"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
     (propagated-inputs
@@ -707,7 +705,7 @@ extensive documentation, including API reference and a tutorial.")
 (define-public gtkmm-2
   (package (inherit gtkmm)
     (name "gtkmm")
-    (version "2.24.2")
+    (version "2.24.4")
     (source (origin
              (method url-fetch)
              (uri (string-append "mirror://gnome/sources/" name "/"
@@ -715,7 +713,7 @@ extensive documentation, including API reference and a tutorial.")
                                  name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
              (sha256
               (base32
-               "0gcm91sc1a05c56kzh74l370ggj0zz8nmmjvjaaxgmhdq8lpl369"))))
+               "1vpmjqv0aqb1ds0xi6nigxnhlr0c74090xzi15b92amlzkrjyfj4"))))
     (propagated-inputs
      `(("pangomm" ,pangomm)
        ("cairomm" ,cairomm)
diff --git a/gnu/packages/libidn.scm b/gnu/packages/libidn.scm
index 3e55618e53..49dafbeb6d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/libidn.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/libidn.scm
@@ -26,13 +26,13 @@
 (define-public libidn
   (package
    (name "libidn")
-   (version "1.29")
+   (version "1.30")
    (source (origin
             (method url-fetch)
             (uri (string-append "mirror://gnu/libidn/libidn-" version
                                 ".tar.gz"))
             (sha256 (base32
-                     "0z3w5arlvyiyvzg76msg3n2px3c1glqr6wnj7rq6zczrpdyp90pv"))))
+                     "0lxh5r1z8gsk4jxx3rv8aasjv8p53j4y04kvfn2w30a0syagrf9r"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
 ;; FIXME: No Java and C# libraries are currently built.
    (synopsis "Internationalized string processing library")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/gobject-introspection-cc.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/gobject-introspection-cc.patch
index 38b919a746..d9cacf4ca7 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/patches/gobject-introspection-cc.patch
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/gobject-introspection-cc.patch
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
---- a/giscanner/sourcescanner.py	2013-12-15 23:03:54.002937000 +0100
-+++ b/giscanner/sourcescanner.py	2013-12-15 23:04:50.322937000 +0100
-@@ -277,6 +277,11 @@
-         defines = ['__GI_SCANNER__']
-         undefs = []
-         cpp_args = os.environ.get('CC', 'cc').split()  # support CC="ccache gcc"
-+        if (cpp_args == ['cc'] and
-+            not any(map(lambda x: os.access(os.path.join(x, 'cc'), os.X_OK),
-+                        os.environ.get('PATH').split(':')))):
-+            cpp_args = ['GUIX_GCC_PATH']
-+
-         if 'cl' in cpp_args:
-             # The Microsoft compiler/preprocessor (cl) does not accept
-             # source input from stdin (the '-' flag), so we need
+Use gcc as the default C compiler if CC is not set.
+
+
+--- gobject-introspection-1.44.0.orig/giscanner/__init__.py	2014-08-04 22:37:07.000000000 +0800
++++ gobject-introspection-1.44.0/giscanner/__init__.py	2015-04-20 17:30:26.507697234 +0800
+@@ -22,3 +22,5 @@
+ builddir = os.environ.get('UNINSTALLED_INTROSPECTION_BUILDDIR')
+ if builddir is not None:
+     __path__.append(os.path.join(builddir, 'giscanner'))
++if not 'CC' in os.environ:
++    os.environ['CC'] = 'gcc'
diff --git a/gnu/packages/pdf.scm b/gnu/packages/pdf.scm
index 21fb39562b..bca577eb35 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/pdf.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/pdf.scm
@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@
 (define-public poppler
   (package
    (name "poppler")
-   (version "0.28.1")
+   (version "0.32.0")
    (source (origin
             (method url-fetch)
             (uri (string-append "http://poppler.freedesktop.org/poppler-"
                                 version ".tar.xz"))
             (sha256 (base32
-                     "01pxjdbhvpxf00ncf8d9wxc8gkcqcxz59lwrpa151ah988inxkrc"))))
+                     "162vfbvbz0frvqyk00ldsbl49h4bj8i8wn0ngfl30xg1lldy6qs9"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    ;; FIXME: more dependencies could  be added
    ;;  cairo output:       no (requires cairo >= 1.10.0)
diff --git a/gnu/packages/xorg.scm b/gnu/packages/xorg.scm
index 401c6dba04..dc04bee20a 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/xorg.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/xorg.scm
@@ -4301,7 +4301,7 @@ graphics cards.")
 (define-public libxfont
   (package
     (name "libxfont")
-    (version "1.5.0")
+    (version "1.5.1")
     (source
       (origin
         (method url-fetch)
@@ -4311,7 +4311,7 @@ graphics cards.")
                ".tar.bz2"))
         (sha256
           (base32
-            "0py2c498lrq6wrj9al6nj57v2ypid9cz0zzhc0hjndgrmp254g1s"))))
+            "1630v3sfvwwlimb2ja10c84ql6v1mw9bdfhvan7pbybkgi99h25p"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (propagated-inputs
       `(("fontsproto" ,fontsproto)