Does anyone know what the World Heritage Convention says about situations such as that which now applies to the Tauric Cherchonese site (Situated in Crimea, Inscribed by Ukraine but now under the control of Russia)? Does UNESCO/ the WHC stick rigidly to the de jure status of the site - where of course Ukraine can actually do nothing or is it prepared, on the basis that its prime responsibility is to the preservation of the site, to deal with Russia on a de facto basis
e.g
a. Would the WHC be prepared to accept a "Periodic Report" from Russia
b. If it had concerns about the condition of the site would it be prepared to deal with Russia on the practicalities of arranging a "Mission"
c. Does it merely hold Russia responsible as the "controlling power" as well, of course, as being a signatory of the Convention
d. Does the site remain in limbo in reporting terms until such time as the status of Crimea is settled de jure (likely i suspect to be many, many years away!!)

Well, the sites of Kosovo are still listed under serbia... similar situation. Who does periodic reports for those?

Good point! I have just checked the 2014 "State of conservation report" and it was presented by ........ Serbia!

The situation is not entirely analogous however in that the sites are situated de facto in a state ("Kosovo") which is not generally recognised internationally and is neither a member of UNESCO nor a signatory of the WHC so there is no one else really who could report.

I am not fully up to date with the situation but are there not also international agreements regarding the "interim settlement" in Kosovo to which Serbia is a party which at least recognise some degree of rights for the Serbians and their culture during this period?

Yes, I vaguely remember sth like that...I believe even some of the monasteries are still inhabited by Serbian monks and the Kosovo government has vouched to protect them.

Possibly in the case of Crimea the federal entity in which Chersonese is located (Sevastopol, I believe) could create the periodic report, leaving in open to which country it actually belongs, allowing both Russia or Ukraine to save face.

MORE Updates...

Myauk-U
http://www.irrawaddy.org/feature/west-burma-ancient-city-needs-care-activists.html

Ed-Dur Site
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/dubai-creek-set-for-global-recognition-1 .1348474

Dolmen sites of Antequera (ONLY site for Spain 2016)
http://blog.andalucia.com/?p=13520

Have kkanekahn or anyone else heard anything on India's 2016 OFFICIAL selections. India cannot possibly (under convention guidelines) nominate all (5) of these sites.

All (3) are cultural. Are any of these nominations cultural landscapes? And which sites will be delayed?
Excavated Remains at Nalanda (India)
Historic City of Ahmadabad (India)
Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai (India) *Note the nominations dossier is already complete and submitted to UNESCO

No conflict with guidelines
Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal [extension] (India)*
Le Corbusier (Argentina, France, Germany, Switzerland, India, Japan)

Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala (India) seems to have transformed (or vise versa?) into a extention named Evolution of Temple Architecture – Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal [extension of the property "Group of Monuments at Pattadakal", (iii)(iv), 1987] This is confusing because the Hoysala nomination was submitted to the tentative list in 2014, and the extension was also submitted to UNESCO under a different name in 2014?

This site has been labeled "INCOMPLETE" by UNESCO for 2015. However, this article points to 2016 as the likely date of evaluation.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/belur-and-halebid-may-j oin-world-heritage-site-list-by-201516/article4805426.ece

Further to this - the Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo even met to discuss the issue and the Serbian church is the legal owner of the sites
http://globalheritagefund.org/onthewire/blog/serbian_religious_and_cultural_sites

But Kosovo is trying to get fully involved in UNESCO matters. If Palestine can get into UNESCO despite US etc objections it would seem unlikely that Kosovo couldn't achieve the same - would Russia have that many allies in trying to prevent it (having of course no veto on such a matter)?
http://www.mfa-ks.net/?page=2,4,2380

Recently, a few details on the new nomination (the third) of "The architectural and urban work of Le Corbusier" have been reported. The nomination will be submitted in January 2015, for decision in 2016.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/2014/09/10/03015-20140910ARTFIG00354-le-corbu sier-de-nouveau-candidat-a-l-unesco.php
http://www.20minutes.fr/culture/1440207-20140909-architecture-oeuvre-corbusier-candid ate-classement-unesco-2016

The most important change: Chandigarh is included now (with three buildings). In total, the nomination consists of 17 sites in seven countries, not really a substantial reduction compared to 2011. I could not find the detailed list of nominated sites, but it seems that two French sites (now 10 versus 12 in 2011) and one Swiss site (now 2 versus 3 in 2011) were removed from the list. And the Firminy site no longer includes the entire ensemble of buildings, but only the House of Culture.

Final confirmation of Japan's nomination for 2016.

Christian Sites
Le Corbusier

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140917/japan-formali zes-recommendation-christian-sites-world-

Greece: By 30 September the Greek Culture Ministry will submit a nomination proposal to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the purpose of having the Archaeological site of Philippi be placed on the list of World Heritage sites, so possible 2016 nomination.

http://news.gtp.gr/2014/09/17/greece-to-nominate-archaeological-site-of-philippi-for- unescos-world-heritage-site-status/

Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala and Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal are entirely different.
Mumbai is given higher priority than Ahmedabad. However Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters recommended to go for nalanda.
By looking at present scenario it is unlikely that Hoysala will be nominated in 2016.
India may nominate Chandigarh as work of Le Corbusier(with france, japan and some other countries).

Pleistocene occupation sites of Klasies River, Border Cave, Wonderwerk Cave and comparable sites (South Africa)

2016 or 2018?

http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/cape-heritage-sites-are-named-1.1755507#.VCMmr1Yk_1o

2016 is more likely, and if the nomination dossier takes a bit longer to prepare, one could reasonably see this nomination in 2017.

http://www.westerncape.gov.za/news/western-cape-government-nominates-sites-unesco-wor ld-heritage-status

Cal Orcko (Bolovia), making another bid.

http://news.artnet.com/in-brief/thousands-of-bolivian-dinosaur-tracks-in-danger-12522 7