chore: prepare for 1.4.4

Author: gaborbernat

CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -1,3 +1,24 @@
+####################
+ 1.4.4 (2026-04-22)
+####################
+
+**********
+ Bugfixes
+**********
+
+- Fix release pipeline generating ``CHANGELOG.rst`` entries with inconsistent heading levels, which broke ``sphinx -W``
+  and pinned Read the Docs ``stable`` at 1.4.0 - by :user:`gaborbernat`. (:issue:`1031`)
+- Revert :pr:`1039` from build 1.4.3, no longer check direct_url (for now) - by :user:`henryiii` (:issue:`1039`)
+- Add ``--ignore-installed`` to pip install command to prevent issues with packages already present in the isolated build
+  environment - by :user:`henryiii` (:issue:`1037`) (:issue:`1040`)
+- Partial revert of :pr:`973`, keeping log messages in one entry, multiple lines. (:issue:`1044`)
+
+***************
+ Miscellaneous
+***************
+
+- :issue:`1048`, :issue:`1049`
+
 ####################
  1.4.3 (2026-04-10)
 ####################

docs/changelog/1031.bugfix.rst

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 from ._util import check_dependency
 
 
-__version__ = '1.4.3'
+__version__ = '1.4.4'
 
 __all__ = [
     'BuildBackendException',