The BBC Cymru Wales election tour gets under way this week.

On Monday, the focus will be on Haverfordwest in the mainly rural Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency.  The area also includes the towns of Fishguard, Milford Haven and St David's.
At the last assembly election, the Conservatives won the seat with 42.4% of the vote with Labour coming second with 34.4%.
At the same election, Labour won two of the mid and west Wales regional seats with Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats taking one each.
On Tuesday the tour moves to Llanelli.
This is one of the key battleground seats where in 2011 Labour beat Plaid Cymru by just 80 votes.
The future of the steel industry will be a big issue as the town is home to Tata's Trostre tinplate plant which currently employs around 650 people.
Wednesday sees the tour's final day in the mid and west Wales region with a visit to Machynlleth in the Montgomeryshire constituency.
The town was was the seat of Owain Glyndwr's Welsh Parliament in 1404.
At the elections in 2011, the assembly seat was won by the Conservatives with a majority of 2,324 and 43.7% of the vote. They took it from the Liberal Democrats who had 33.6% of the vote.
The next stop is Anglesey on Thursday, and the island constituency of Ynys Mon.
This seat was won by Plaid Cymru in 2011 and subsequently held in a by-election in 2013 with nearly 60% of the vote.
Then on Friday, Wrexham welcomes the tour. It is the largest town in the north and the constituency borders England.
In 2011, Labour won the seat with 44% of the vote and the Conservatives came second with 26%.
You can follow the tour across all BBC Cymru Wales' services all week.
Then the following week, the tour starts making its way back down south.


Chaz Davies completed his third double of 2016 by beating defending champion Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes in Sunday's World Superbike race at Magny-Cours.

However, Northern Irishman Rea improved his chances of retaining the title as second place saw him extend his lead over team-mate Sykes to 48 points.
There are four races left with the last two rounds in Spain and Qatar.
Once Ducati rider Davies got past the Kawasaki pairing of Rea and Sykes, he pulled away to repeat Saturday's win.
Earlier in the campaign the 29-year-old from Powys won both races at Aragon and Imola.
Rea will head to Jerez content with a 48-point cushion at the top of the championship standings.
Englishman Sykes had led for most of Sunday's race but, when Rea briefly got past with five laps left, Davies pounced to snatch the lead.
Rea, 29, slipped to third but got past his chief title rival Sykes to finish runner-up.
"I am happy with second place - it was the best I could do today," said the defending champion.
"I put everything into that race."


A driver who died after his lorry crashed off the A7 near Longtown has been named as Ian Ewart from Langholm.

Cumbria Police said it was thought that the 48-year-old had fallen ill at the wheel of the HGV, which had crossed on to the opposite side of the road before leaving the carriageway.
Mr Ewart was found unresponsive at the scene of the crash, which took place at about 18:10 on Monday evening.
No other vehicle was involved in the incident.


A 20% tax on sugary drinks could cut the number of obese people in Wales by 8,300 and those overweight by 13,300, research for Plaid Cymru suggests.

The study also estimates the tax might raise Â£45m a year, which the party say could help employ 1,000 extra doctors.
But there is also a warning in the study that the extra tax is likely to hit people on lower incomes hardest.
First Minister Carwyn Jones criticised Plaid's "pop tax" arguing it is not a "sensible" long term policy.
The policy was first announced by Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood at her party's annual conference last October.
The research, by LG Research, is based on existing studies of how a sugary drinks tax might work.
The findings include:
Plaid health spokeswoman Elin Jones said the research suggested a 20% tax could lead to a 15% reduction in consumption of sugary drinks.
"It's absolutely right for the state to look at taxation as a means of dis-incentivising bad habits by the population," she said.
"The state already does it in the context of tax on cigarettes, tax on alcohol.
"Now we think it's time that Wales can lead the way in putting additional tax on sugary drinks to reduce consumption of sugar, which is at too high a level in people's individual diet."
The policy was again dismissed by Carwyn Jones at First Minister's Questions on Tuesday.
"It's not sensible, in my view, to say that you're going to pay for a thousand doctors by ensuring people drink more pop," Mr Jones told AMs.
"It's not a very firm foundation on which to build a policy, namely that you must ensure that people drink more pop in order to have more doctors; less pop, fewer doctors.
"I don't see how that would work in the longer term."
The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) insisted such a tax would "neither have the health nor economic impact"  suggested "not least because obesity stems from a range of factors, not one product".
BSDA director general Gavin Partington said: "In France a soft drinks tax led to an initial sales fall of 2% in 2012 but they rose in 2013 and are up 6% this year.
"Denmark scrapped its 'fat' tax when consumers travelled across the border to do their shopping and Belgium abandoned its plans, too, noting that there was no evidence that tax is effective."


Archaeologists say they have unearthed the earliest evidence of warfare between hunter-gatherers to be scientifically dated, at a remote site in northern Kenya.

The 10,000-year-old remains of 27 people found west of Lake Turkana show that they met violent deaths.
They were left to die there rather than being buried.
Many experts have argued that conflict only came about as humans became more settled.
These people, by contrast, were apparently nomadic hunter-gatherers.
The archaeologists, who have been working on the site at Nataruk since 2012, discovered that the victims were clubbed or stabbed to death in a single event.
The dead included male and female adults, as well as children.
The evidence, published in the journal Nature, does not reveal exactly what happened but the fact that so many people died at the same time suggests it was the result of "some sort of conflict", according to Cambridge University Professor Robert Foley.
Nataruk records what is, for now, the oldest scientifically-dated case of conflict between two nomadic hunter-gatherer groups.
Nevertheless, its significance is not its age, but the fact that it involved these groups, who had few possessions to fight over.
Nataruk establishes definitively that inter-group violence can and did arise regardless of whether the populations were settled.
All it needed was moments of food abundance, causing groups to grow in size, putting pressure on the resources. Then the benefits of stealing from another group could outweigh the costs of the conflict that might ensue.
Nataruk was an important place because it was at the edge of a super lake beach which would have attracted all land animals to drink, as well as giving access to fishing grounds, while other parts of the shore of Lake Turkana (the forested Kerio Delta, for example, or the rocky whole southern edge) would not have that.
It is believed that the group was attacked by rival hunter-gatherers armed with wooden clubs and arrows or spears tipped with sharpened obsidian, a rare black volcanic rock.
Speculating on the causes of the attack, Marta Mirazon Lahr, who led the Nataruk study, said the "massacre may have resulted from an attempt to seize resources... whose value was similar to those of later food-producing agricultural societies, among whom violent attacks on settlements became part of life".
Today, the area where the bodies were found is scrubland, but the researchers say that 10,000 years ago it would have been fertile and very close to the shoreline of the lake.
Many experts have argued that conflicts only arise "once people have things worth fighting over, [such as] herds of livestock, stores of grain... things that you can both defend and attack," Professor Foley told the BBC's Newsday radio programme.
It has been assumed that hunter-gatherers were less likely to engage in such conflicts because they can move away, but the Nataruk find shows that "before we have settled life, groups were competing over resources", Professor Foley added.


Plaid Cymru's stance against the Conservatives in this campaign was always going to leave it vulnerable to the claim that when push comes to shove, Labour will always be able to rely on its support.

After all, when you've made blocking a return for the Tories an absolute priority, then where else do you go?
The comments on the weekend by Leanne Wood that Plaid may withhold its support for Ed Miliband if he leads a minority Labour government are a way of trying to deal with that.
At the very least it sends out the message that it can't be taken for granted.
Plaid's problem is it that it doesn't spell out what the alternatives are if it doesn't support Labour.
Unsurprisingly, Labour has been more than happy to try to answer that question by saying it opens the door to a return for the Conservatives, which is explicitly what Plaid has been campaigning against in recent weeks.
Of course all of this only becomes relevant in the event of a hung parliament, which is exactly what the polls are suggesting will happen.
Despite what the Tories say about the NHS being the main doorstep issue and UKIP saying it's immigration, it is who is trusted on the economy that will decide who gets into Number 10.
And when it comes to the economy, a feature of the campaign so far is the striking contrast in the way the parties are describing the situation in Wales.
On opposite ends of the spectrum are David Cameron saying there's a jobs miracle underway while Labour and Plaid paint a picture of thousands of people using food banks, claiming what they call the bedroom tax or are on a zero hours contract.
What's the truth? The Conservatives say the truth lies in the stats and there were plenty thrown at journalists at the launch of their Welsh manifesto on Friday at the Royal Welsh showground in Builth Wells.
The even coincided with the latest unemployment figures, showing 12,000 fewer people unemployed on the quarter.
Behind the scenes I was being urged to make sure those figures were reflected in our news bulletins on the day.
Conservatives are acutely aware of the dangers of this being a vote-less recovery, or as Plaid one described it a "spreadsheet" recovery.
In other words, it's an economic recovery that is not being felt on the ground, which is the central claim of Labour.
The economy is the prism for all of the parties. The Liberal Democrats have for the first time based their entire campaign on the prospect of being a moderating coalition partner which would ensure the economy is not jeopardised by too much, or too little, austerity.
And UKIP claims that the British economy would perform better if it was freed from the shackles of being a member of the EU.
I'm not telling anyone anything new by saying it's down to the economy. How the parties turn it to their advantage? Well that's another matter.


A car fire in a road tunnel has led to one of Manchester Airport's runways being closed - causing delays to some flights.

The blaze broke out in Wilmslow Road, underneath runway one, at about 18:00 GMT Cheshire Police said.
Photos from the scene show plumes of smoke billowing out of the underpass.
An airport spokeswoman said all flights had been diverted to runway two as a precaution and she believes it will be back to normal soon.
Some planes are delayed and passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline, she added.
Passengers have reported being stuck at foreign airports as a result, while others said their flights had been diverted to Liverpool and Birmingham.
Adam Harrington has tweeted: "Fire at Manchester airport so sat on a runway in Alicante for an hour and a half."


Ricky Walden is through to the China Open final after a 6-5 semi-final victory over Scotland's John Higgins.

World number 10 Walden, 33, will meet England's Judd Trump in Sunday's final at Beijing University over 19 frames.
It will be a second final in a week for Walden, who lost 10-6 to Mark Allen in the Players Championship on Sunday.
World number seven Trump whitewashed Scotland's Stephen Maguire 6-0 in the second semi-final to reach his second ranking final of the season.
Trump, 26, who was beaten 10-9 by Kyren Wilson in the final of the Shanghai Masters in September, won the opening frame with a 100 break and then raced to a 4-0 interval lead as Maguire, 35, struggled with his potting.
Trump then cleared with 31 in frame five to move to the brink of victory, before completing the victory with a break of 46 in the final frame.
Earlier, Walden edged a tight match against four-time world champion Higgins with a 131 break in the decider.
Walden is aiming for the fourth ranking title of his career and a fourth tournament victory in China, following his wins at the 2008 Shanghai Masters, the 2012 Wuxi Classic and the 2014 International Championship.
The China Open is the final ranking event before the World Championship, which begins in Sheffield on 16 April.


Five hundred homes could be built on allotments and green belt land next to the Leatherhead bypass in Surrey.

Mole Valley Council will get Â£21m from the developer Barratt Homes if the proposals go ahead.
Nearly 2,800 people have signed a petition against the sale of the allotments. Campaigners say schools and doctors surgeries are "already full".
Council leader Chris Townsend said the plans would provide more housing and financial support for council services.
There are more than 100 plots at the Barnett Wood Lane allotments.
The authority has said more than 100 allotment holders would get new plots and is suggesting a split site with allotments on both the Leatherhead and Ashtead sides of the M25.
Linda Weller, from the Leatherhead Poors' Allotment Society, who organised the petition, said the council had tried to address most of the issues the society had raised.
"We do still have issues with what we're being offered, " she said.
"We need time to go and assess both sites but we're slightly relieved that we're not going to the awful site that they originally dumped us on."
She said wildlife, including at least one badger sett, would be disturbed.
Allotment holder David Wells said local schools and doctors surgeries were already "rammed full" and that the roads were "a nightmare at the moment".
He added: "As a resident for over 60 years I've looked out at the allotments and now to be faced with 500 houses and the development prior to that, well it's not good news."
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Surrey said it would continue to campaign to protect green belt land and open spaces.
"We are extremely disappointed by Mole Valley Council's determination to dispose of a vital community asset and to allow building on adjacent green belt fields," the spokesman said.
"[The council's] approach to the Barnett Wood Lane site indicates a failure to think strategically about the role of Mole Valley's countryside and green belt.
"It also shows a woeful disregard for the needs of local people."


Brown tree snakes, which have wreaked havoc among bird populations on the Pacific island of Guam, may also be damaging the forests.

Scientists say that the slithery invaders' dietary habits are preventing the spread of tree seeds by birds.
Researchers say the growth of new trees on the island may have fallen by up to 92%.
These losses may have grave, long-term consequences for forests and other species.
These dull brown creatures with their bright yellow underbellies are believed to have arrived in the western Pacific island by cargo ship after World War II.
Although only 50km long and 10km wide, Guam is now home to around two million of these nocturnal predators.
The snakes have thrived on a diet of local bird species. By the 1980s they had wiped out 10 of the 12 forest bird species native to Guam.
"It's a really eerie feeling to spend a day by yourself in the jungle on Guam," said study lead author Prof Haldre Rogers, from Iowa State University.
"When you're on Saipan, there's this constant bird chatter, and you get visited by different birds. On Guam, it's silent."
As well as the silent destruction of the bird population, researchers are now concerned that the tree snake's rise will significantly impact the island's forests.
Prof Rogers and colleagues found that about 70% of the trees on Guam produce small fruit. Normally birds eat the fruit and distribute the seeds in their droppings.
"Aside from fruit bats, which are also nearly extinct on Guam, nothing else can disperse seeds," Prof Rogers said.
"If you get rid of the birds and bats, there's nothing to replace them."
The scientists also set up "seed baskets" under two common tree species on Guam to estimate how much of the fruit was naturally dispersed. Only 10% of the seeds made it out of the immediate vicinity of the trees.
The researchers also concluded that seeds that had passed through the digestive tracts of birds were two to four times more likely to germinate than those that hadn't.
The team calculated that the absence of the birds reduced the abundance of new seedlings of two tree species on Guam by between 61% and 92%.
"This study takes the first step in predicting the scale of change that could take place on Guam if we can't find a way to bring birds back," says Joshua Tewksbury, a co-author of the study from Future Earth, an international research platform.
"The full impact of the brown tree snake invasion, and the loss of birds, is still unfolding, but our results clearly suggest that the indirect effects are going to be large, potentially affecting forest composition and structure."
The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
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Charities providing humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees arriving in Europe are to receive £300,000 from the Scottish government.

The British Red Cross, Mercy Corps, Glasgow the Caring City and Edinburgh Direct Aid will share the money.
International Development Minister Humza Yousaf is due to visit the Greek island of Lesbos to see first hand how the aid effort is working.
Thousands of refugees have arrived in Lesbos from conflict-ridden Syria.
Mr Yousaf said: "The Scottish government and the people of Scotland are committed to helping the most vulnerable people in their hour of need.
"We know we must do more to help those men, women and children coming to Europe seeking protection and refuge.
"I hope that today's announcement of £300,000 will go some way towards helping those who most need our help."


Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings against Everton and Hajduk Split following the crowd trouble that marred Thursday's Europa League match.

Play was suspended in the 33rd minute after supporters in the away end at Goodison Park surged towards the pitch and objects were thrown.
Everton have been charged with the "throwing of objects".
While European football's governing body have charged Croatian club Hajduk with four offences.
They are: "throwing of objects", "crowd disturbances", "field invasions by supporters" and "acts of damages".
Uefa is yet to confirm the date of the hearing.
Everton had opened the scoring moments before the trouble broke out in the Europa League play-off first-leg.
The teams waited on the side of the pitch before the police and stewards restored order, and the match resumed after a break of almost five minutes.
The Toffees added a second goal through Idrissa Gueye shortly after the restart and they held on to win 2-0.
The second leg takes place in Split on Thursday.


From a first-time runner fighting against the odds to taking part in 36 consecutives London Marathons, there were many inspirational stories from people lacing up their trainers for this year's event.

World-class runners and fundraisers took to the streets of London to take part in one of the world's most famous and colourful races.
Meet the faces behind the sweat bands as Get Inspired takes a closer look at the experience of six of the 39,000-strong field.
Marathon motivation: Born without a right hand, Nicky, 30, was fitted with the world's most lifelike bionic hand in 2014. It means she can carry out everyday tasks with two hands for the very first time.
Nicky says: "I want to raise awareness of the problems people with disabilities can face, not in coping with their disability, but with infrastructure restrictions and society's prejudices. I'm running for Leonard Cheshire Disability because of their work to campaign for change in these areas."
"I would ideally like any funds I raise to be spent encouraging and supporting young disabled people to achieve their goals, especially in the fields of business and sport."
Running for: Leonard Cheshire Disability
Target sponsorship: As much as possible
Finish time: Four hours two minutes and 42 seconds
Marathon motivation: After the scare of being involved in car accident, 37-stone Stuart realised he needed to do something about his weight. He joined his local slimming club and gradually started getting more active, walking with colleagues in his lunch hour to doing short jogs, then runs - and the weight started to fall off. Stuart went on to lose 22st and 9lb, but he hasn't stopped there.
He's already completed a 10K race, three sprint triathlons, a half marathon and now, at the age of 44, his first full marathon in London.
Stuart says: "To me the London Marathon is the most iconic sporting event in the country and I have a chance to show myself 'I can' and show others that it is possible and there is nothing to fear about losing weight. I no longer have to pretend I'm happy, because I am absolutely happy."
"Twenty years ago I lost my mum to pancreatic cancer and it is a great opportunity to raise money whilst remembering my mum and all that she meant to me."
Running for: Cancer Research UK
Target sponsorship: £12,000 (as part of a group)
Finish time: Five hours 37 minutes and nine seconds
Marathon motivation: In April 2014 Grace was involved in a car accident which put her in an induced coma. She had 28 broken bones, a punctured lung, her liver was cut in half, she had a fifth of her bowel removed and skin grafts on her thighs and arms. Grace, now 22, ran to raise money for those who helped her recover.
Grace says: "I went into rehab at Queen Mary's Hospital in December 2014 in my wheelchair and ran 5K within 11 days. Now I want to pay back the hospital that saved my life against all odds and got me back to fitness."
"I can't wait to cross the finish line and see everyone I love watching, knowing I have done something for an amazing cause which is so close to my heart."
Running for: St George's Hospital
Target sponsorship: £10,000
Finish time: Six hours two minutes and 42 seconds
Marathon motivation: 82-year-old Ken Jones has run every single London Marathon from the first one in 1981. He likes to inspire the older generation to run and stay healthy. He makes a point of running the race slow enough to talk to as many people as he can along the way.
Ken grew up in London and was evacuated during the war as a child. He was in and out of hospital as a youngster, and didn't take up running until he joined the army at 18.
Ken says: "I am passionate about running, and want everyone to get out there. I believe it's essential for a long and happy life."
Finish time: Six hours 45 minutes 54 seconds
Marathon motivation: Two years ago Steven, 22, weighed just seven stone, was sleeping rough and a substance dependent, but then his life was turned around when he found The Running Charity. They work with young homeless people, providing them with a programme to help them get back on their feet by giving them a focus, a social group and achievable personal goals.
Steven wanted to repay the group by raising money for them running his first marathon.
Steven says: "I found a place where I was supported, pushed and given the tools to address the problems I faced. It's been a long journey for me but I am now housed, a healthy 12 and a half stone, no longer using any drugs and I'm now a qualified personal trainer.
"I was given the chance to turn my life around through running and fitness and without the help of The Running Charity I would not be where I am now. It's a charity with ambitions to help as many people as possible and I can't wait to help them more."
Running for: The Running Charity
Target sponsorship: £5,000
Finish time: Three hours 51 minutes 41 seconds
Marathon motivation: Garth Ravenhill, 44, put on his running shoes for The Cure Parkinson's Trust after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease seven years ago. As Garth had not taken part in any race further than 10k before the marathon he was unsure how his body would cope but was able to complete it.
Garth says:: "The progression of the disease is slow but sure, resulting in me becoming stiffer as time moves on - never mind the other symptoms.
"I want to show people that you can achieve great goals and mine is the London Marathon. I've never really run before and to do this would be a personal victory against this disease. Race day will be so exciting, mixing with fellow runners, looking at all the other charities that are being represented, as well as the professional runners. I can't wait.
"My goal is to finish in under six hours but it will depend how my disease acts on the day. But no matter what, I will finish. I promise."
Running for: The Cure Parkinson's Trust
Target sponsorship: £2,500
Finish time: Five hours 29 minutes and 39 seconds
WATCH MORE: A Million Reasons to Run
Feeling inspired? There are events for all abilities so use this handy guide to find the best one for you.


More than 50,000 residents from the German city of Augsburg were evacuated from their homes so that a huge World War Two bomb could be defused.

It was the country's biggest evacuation for an unexploded bomb since the end of the war.
The 1.8-tonne British explosive is thought to have come from a 1944 air raid, which destroyed the old town.
German police later announced that the bomb had been made safe.
Officials chose Christmas Day for the evacuation because it was less difficult than on a normal working day.
The bomb was uncovered during construction work on Tuesday.
Augsburg mayor Kurt Gribl, speaking in a video posted on the city's Twitter account as the evacuation began, called for "each person to verify that their relatives, parents and friends have found places to stay outside the [security] zone ... Look out for one another."
The authorities were confident that most people affected could stay with friends or family, but a number of schools and sports halls were opened as shelters for those in need.
Most Germans celebrating Christmas open their presents and have their main festive meal on 24 December, rather than Christmas Day.


Plans for a £100m housing development which would see up to 750 homes built on the site of an old paper mill in Cardiff have been approved.

Up to 60% of homes on the 53-acre Mill development will be affordable housing.
Funding for the scheme - where Arjo Wiggins paper mill once stood - is coming from the Welsh government and Principality Building Society.
Economy Minister Edwina Hart said the plans would have a "considerable economic impact" on the region.


Finland's Nokia says it is suing Apple for breaching 32 technology patents.

Nokia's law suits have been filed in three courts in Germany and one in Texas.
The claims cover patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding.
On Tuesday, Apple started legal action against Acacia Research and Conversant Intellectual Property Management, alleging they had conspired with Nokia to extort money from Apple.
Nokia said: "Since agreeing a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products."
Between 2009 and 2011 the two companies were locked in a series of tit-for-tat legal battles over the patents for the technology they used in their mobile phones.
At the time Nokia was still the world's leading mobile phone manufacturer, but was being rapidly undermined by the rise of Apple's iPhone.
In the end the two companies settled, with Apple making an undisclosed one-off payment, and making further royalty payments to use Nokia technology.
Nokia eventually sold its mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2014, though earlier this year it said it would re-enter the mobile phone business by licensing its technology and brand name to a new Finish firm called HMD, which is making Nokia-branded phones once more.


Bromley have signed teenage defender Ben Wynter from Crystal Palace.

The 19-year-old joins the National League club after signing his first professional contract with Palace last June.
He failed to feature in any first-team games for the Eagles last year but can play both centre-back or right back.
"I'm a local boy," Wynter said on joining Bromley. "The club is definitely going in the right direction and I can't wait to get started."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Denver linebacker Brandon Marshall kneeled in protest during the American national anthem prior to the Broncos' victory over the Carolina Panthers in the opening game of the new NFL season.

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Marshall is the third player to refuse to stand for the anthem since Colin Kaepernick did so last month in protest at what he sees as racial injustice.
"I feel like this was the right thing to do," said Marshall.
Broncos beat Carolina 21-20 in a re-run of February's Super Bowl 50.
At a pre-season game in August, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick chose to remain seated while the national anthem was played.
He said he would not "stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour".
Kaepernick's team-mate Eric Reid joined him in not standing during the team's final pre-season game while Seattle Seahawks' cornerback Jeremy Lane stayed seated ahead of a game with Oakland.
Marshall, a college team-mate of Kaepernick at Nevada, told NFL.com: "The message is I'm against social injustice. I'm not against the military or police or America at all.
"I knew what territory it came with, and I decided to do it. I feel like this is the right platform. This is our only platform to really be heard."
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The NFL has previously said players are "encouraged but not required" to stand during the anthem.
The Panthers took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter of the first Super Bowl rematch to start a season since 1970, but running back CJ Anderson scored two touchdowns as the Broncos edged ahead.
Graham Gano's field goal pulled the Panthers within a point, but he then missed his next attempt from 50 yards with four seconds left as Denver held on.
How to follow the 2016 NFL season on BBC TV and RadioNFL 2016: Kaepernick, Brady & Beckham Jr - all you need to know for new season


The last few years have witnessed the birth of a curious phenomenon in India, perhaps a sign of religion loosening its grip on a modern secularised middle-class.

Earlier, when an Indian wanted personal advice on life matters - she looked to gurus and astrology. This, in recent times, has been replaced with the English alphabet.
India has more than 20 listed major languages but it is only English which has been bestowed with this honour and whose every letter can be a potential guide to life.
My conjecture is that this has come from management speak. For example, an American restaurant manager will say: "In the restaurant business years ago, I was taught the three As: acknowledge, apologise, act."
This obsession with the alphabet is all-pervasive; everyone from the little man on the street to politicians has a pet letter that they split into triple alliteration.
The making of this instant Bible is a wholly arbitrary exercise - zero in on any letter between A and Z, then force it to cough up a minimum of three alliterations.
It can go up from here - it can be five, or seven: the sky is the limit. But the minimum is three. Once you've done this, life becomes much easier.
I recently went to a store selling gym equipment to inquire about buying an exer-cycle. The owner sat glowing behind the counter, his t-shirt sleeves rolled up, his biceps bulging like a buffalo's full udder.
I said to the man: "I can see you've been doing your body-building in here."
He said: "Why not, just like a halwai [sweet vendor] ends up eating his own sweets, I end up exercising in my gym store."
Then, apropos of nothing, he outlined his life's success mantra for me: "Food, fashion and fitness."
He was acting out his life according to the three Fs. Two Fs were already in existence: the store we were in was "Fitness", downstairs he had another shop selling readymade clothes - "fashion". He whispered he was working on the third "F" - food. A "multi-cuisine restaurant" with a South Indian, Chinese and Mughlai menu was in the pipeline. His life was set.
Indians cannot have enough of this alphabet soup.
Every commentator and public figure doles out a letter combo in a speech or a column, only to be asked for yet another. It's like Oliver Twist: "Please, sir, I want some more."
When it comes to single alphabet combos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads from the front.
Two years ago, it was the three Ds of national success: "Demographic dividend, democracy and demand for goods and services."
Soon after, President Pranab Mukherjee, addressing both houses of parliament, spoke of  building on "the 3Ds of democracy, demographic and demand", and added to it five terrific Ts, riding on the strengths of which would help "revive Brand India": "Tradition, talent, tourism, trade and technology."
India's film stars also regularly take to Facebook to share their alphabet mantras for success.
Deepika Padukone, the reigning queen of Bollywood, recently seen with Vin Diesel in The Return of Xander Cage, posted this for the benefit of her legion of fans: "When I was growing up my father said to me, 'To be the best, always remember the three D's - Discipline, Dedication and Determination'." Total number of "likes": 142K.
India's No.1 paperback writer, Chetan Bhagat, recently wrote an op-ed on India's rupee ban for a national broadsheet.
It was headlined, "The 3 New I's of Indian Politics." The three inane I's are: "Intention, Initiative and Ideas."
Even gurus, not wanting to be left behind, have adapted to changing times. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar tweeted the following three Ps to his followers: "Perseverance, patience and possibility."
Among other things, this has led to an intense debate among Indian grammarians about the use of the apostrophe between the chosen key letter and the plural-designating "s" that proceeds it.
As always happens, when there's plenty of something, a pioneer emerges who sets the bar higher for everybody who follows.
Naina Dayal, a lecturer in Indian history at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, writes about a University Grants Commission "Orientation Programme" that she attended a little while back: "A former governor spoke to us at length about 14 Cs that we must cherish and impart to our students - confidence, courage, credibility, capability, compassion, concentration, creativity, co-ordination, communication, competence, co-relation, character, culture and commitment."
When the rest of the country was stuck at three-letter alliterations, this ambitious gentleman - the governor - went where no man had gone before: the fabulous 14.
The trouble with this relentless alphabetising is that there are so many variations possible on a theme (even though the English alphabet is finite), that no one really remembers the mantra after the moment of its utterance has passed.
As a writer, to me, all letters of the alphabet family are equal.
They are my sons, daughters and transgenders. To my mind, it would be terribly unfair on my behalf if I were to throw all my weight around one single letter and the words it subsequently reproduces at random.
The writer is the editor of House Spirit: Drinking in India, published by Speaking Tiger


A Japanese surfer who spent a night at sea clinging to his surfboard has been rescued by the crew of a container ship off the east coast of Australia.

The 37-year-old told police a current had pulled him out to sea off Bulli Beach, 80km (50 miles) south of Sydney on Thursday evening.
Sailors on the MSC Damla spotted him floating about 6km offshore and pulled him on board using a lifebuoy.
They gave him food, drink and warm clothing and contacted the authorities.
A pilot vessel from Port Kembla returned him to shore. He was taken to hospital but discharged shortly afterwards.
The man was in "remarkably good spirits", MSC Australia's managing director Kevin Clarke said.
"Our crew are always being observant of marine traffic, but it is exceptionally fortunate they were able to spot this man waving for help from his surf board," he said.
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The man had spent six hours trying to paddle back to shore before running out of energy, Inspector Darren Wood said.
He is estimated to have spent about 16 hours in the water but temperatures only dropped to 21 degrees during the night, preventing him from getting hypothermia, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported.
The safety organisation Surf Life Saving New South Wales said surfers should tell other people of their plans before setting out and be aware of local conditions, ABC said.


It is not often that I accuse someone of being a cockroach during a Wales Today interview, but Mark Williams took it in typically good humour.

The context was that Tim Farron gave the Liberal Democrats that description because he said it was so resilient it could survive a nuclear holocaust.
There was no complete wipe out in 2015 (Mark Williams' survival in Ceredigion was proof of that) but nevertheless to go from 57 to eight MPs had an Armageddon feel to it.
The party feels the road back lies in the pledge to hold another EU vote, or a "ratification" referendum.
It is a strategy based on targeting the 48% who voted Remain.
The hope for the Lib Dems is that the EU referendum will have the same impact on British politics as the Scottish independence referendum had on Scottish politics.
In other words, how people voted in the Scottish referendum carried over into the general election, leading to the dominance of the SNP.
The question is whether the 48% of Remainers will continue with the resistance to Brexit by supporting the Lib Dems, or accept the result and back the other parties who are prepared to get on with the job of taking the UK out of the EU?
A central part of the strategy is the view that strong opposition makes for good government.
To make the point, Mark Williams quoted the former Tory minister Francis Pym who said that big majorities lead to poor government, in reference to the huge leads enjoyed by Margaret Thatcher.
To persuade voters, they need to be seen to be doing this for the right reasons in the eyes of the public.
If people feel this policy is simply based on them wanting to change the result because they disagreed with it then the rest of the campaign, and the result, could be hard for the Lib Dems.
But if they can convince voters that the Brexit destination will never be a good place to be heading for then there could be many willing to back them.


Ferry passengers travelling to the Isle of Man have been told they will require photographic ID whilst the UK terror threat level remains critical.

The move comes after a suicide bomber killed 22 people - including children - and injured 64 at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester on Monday.
Police said they have also increased patrols in wake of the attack.
More than 40,000 people are expected to travel to the Isle of Man over the next few weeks for the annual TT races.
A traffic lane at the airport has been closed with all pick-ups and drop-offs done in Ronaldsway's car parks.
A spokesman said additional resources are being deployed to offer "reassurance and enhance security".
Ferry passengers have been urged to carry identification and check in early for sailings in response to enhanced security measures at UK ports.
A spokesman said vehicle searches will also be increased.
Chief Executive Mark Woodward said: "We were given very little notice of the new police requirements at Heysham.
"We are fully cooperating and have been working with Lancashire Constabulary and our passengers to minimise disruption.
"It is a fast-developing situation which could soon affect other ports we sail from and we do not know how long the enhanced security measures will be in place."
Mr Woodward said whilst the Steam Packet don't require the ID, third parties such as the police may.
A government spokesman said a minute's silence will be observed at 11:00 BST as a "mark of respect for those who lost their lives".


New Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones praised former skipper Sam Warburton for the way he reacted after relinquishing his previous role.

Jones, 31, has been chosen by interim head coach Rob Howley to succeed Warburton ahead of the Six Nations.
28-year-old Warburton, who stepped down after six years and 49 matches in charge, congratulated Jones.
"Sam has been very gracious in the way things have happened,"  Jones told BBC Wales Sport.
Jones outlined what he wants from his Welsh team ahead of their opening game against Italy in Rome on 5 February.
"In a way the captaincy is just a label, but I'm ready and able to make decisions as captain when needed," said Jones.
"I don't want followers: followers are for Twitter.
"Also, if I'm not playing well hopefully I'll still be available to be deselected.
"If that wasn't the case I wouldn't have accepted the captaincy."
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Jones has led Wales on five occasions before and captained the British and Irish Lions to the third Test series victory over Australia in 2013.
The Ospreys lock revealed becoming permanent Wales captain was not something he sought as a young boy.
"It was not an aspiration to be captain," Jones told BBC Wales Sport.
"When you talked about dreams you wanted as a kid I did want to play for Wales.
"I don't remember too vividly because you had school work to focus on and sometimes grandparents would think that is more important.
"My dream was to play for Wales and I have been very fortunate where I am.
"To represent a pretty special country that is passionate about rugby was definitely in my thoughts."
Wales have not won the Six Nations since Howley was last in caretaker charge in 2013.
Despite winning three of their four matches last autumn, Wales were criticised for their style of play and Jones admitted it was something they were determined to address.
"There are a lot of people with points to prove," said Jones, who has won 105 Wales caps.
"I would like to think we have a squad with a point to prove.
"It is far more dangerous and pleasing to have hungry guys who are vying for a jersey to represent your country.
"We have been scrutinised in the past for not closing games out but we had three from four [wins] in the autumn."
Wales defeated Argentina, Japan and South Africa in November after losing the opening match against Australia convincingly.
Jones said: "Were the performances complete? No. But did we get the results, do we want to play better and are we changing and evolving? Yes.
"If we get to a point where we have tried to do this and it's not working, we will open the floodgates and deserve the criticism.
"Saying that, we are always going to get criticism with the expectation we have in the country we are in.
"But there are a group of guys who are trying to play the rugby the country deserves."
Six Nations bosses have introduced bonus points for the first time and Jones believes they could have an effect at the end of the tournament.
"Having the bonus points system is going to have a whole new shift, not in the approach teams want to play, but probably towards the back end of the competition," Jones added.
"With two games to go you are going to know what you need to do.
"It will be interesting to see how it goes.
"It's the format for European rugby that has been elevated to an international spectacle which will hopefully add to the excitement."


Wales would have beaten South Africa in the World Cup quarter-finals had they not been deprived of key attackers, says former captain Jonathan Davies.

Liam Williams, Scott Williams, Jonathan Davies and Leigh Halfpenny all missed the loss to the Springboks with injury.
Wales failed to convert early pressure at Twickenham and were beaten 23-19 after Fourie du Preez's late try.
"I'm convinced if Wales would've had Liam Williams and Scott Williams they would have scored," said Davies.
Centre Scott Williams was ruled out after being injured during the Pool A win over England, while full-back or wing Liam Williams had his participation ended by a foot injury in the defeat by Australia.
Both are unlikely to recover in time to play any part in the 2016 Six Nations.
Coach Warren Gatland also lost centre Corey Allen and wing Hallam Amos during the pool stages, while centre Davies, full-back Leigh Halfpenny and scrum-half Rhys Webb were pre-World Cup casualties.
Halfpenny, Davies and Liam and Scott Williams have scored 33 tries between them for Wales.
Gatland refused to use the long injury list as an excuse for his side's exit, but former fly-half Davies said the absence of key backs deprived Wales of the "killer instinct" needed to punish the best teams in the world at crucial moments.
"We had to score tries when we had two men extra [against Australia in the pool stage]," he said on BBC Wales' Scrum V programme. "We were slightly one-dimensional because of injuries.
"Liam Williams, Scott Williams and Leigh Halfpenny stay out wide and stretch defences and would have scored tries.
"Irrespective of the scrum and the penalties, we were depleted and that's the reason we didn't win."
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Saturday's defeat means Gatland has lost 28 of 30 games against South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
While acknowledging Wales have closed the gap on the southern hemisphere's dominant forces, former Wales flanker Martyn Williams believes a chasm remains when instinctive creativity is needed.
"The game plan has been what it is for so long. That's got its strengths and weaknesses," he said.
"The strength is all the players know what's expected of them and they get it every time. The downside to that is sometimes when you need to think outside the box, like when we had 15 against 13 against Australia, you've got to react on the field.
"We sometimes struggle with that. If we are going to take that next step I'm sure the coaches and the players will look at it."


Venezuelan prison minister Iris Varela has announced the closure of the jail where more than 60 people died in a riot on Friday.

Ms Varela said the female wing of the Uribana prison near the city of Barquisimeto had already been cleared.
She also called on male inmates to stop rioting.
Violence between rival gangs is common in Venezuela's overcrowded jails. More than 300 people were killed in 2012, according to a local rights group.
Gang warfare
Ms Varela did not say how many people had died in the riot, but a hospital director Ruy Medina said he had counted 61 bodies in the morgue.
Earlier, local media had reported that the security forces were still not in full control of the prison.
Mr Medina, the director of the Hospital Central Antonio Maria Pineda, said 120 people had been injured.
Ms Varela said officials had decided to clear the prison of all inmates to "close this chapter of violence".
She said soldiers had been sent to the prison to search prisoners for weapons after reports that rival gangs were preparing for a fight.
According to Ms Varela, the prisoners were alerted to the impending raid by news reports and lay in wait for the National Guard, attacking them as they entered the Uribana penitentiary.
She said most of the victims had been killed with home-made weapons and rudimentary knives.
However, Mr Medina had earlier said many of the bodies at his hospital's morgue had gunshot wounds.
Vice-President Nicolas Maduro said there would be a thorough investigation into the riot, led by Venezuela's Prosecutor General and the President of the National Assembly.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles blamed the violence on "incompetent and irresponsible government".
Venezuelan human rights activist Carlos Nieto Palma told BBC Mundo Uribana prison was among the most dangerous in the country and suffered from overcrowding.
There has been a series of deadly prison riots in Venezuela.
Last year, the security forces took almost three weeks to regain control of La Planta prison in the capital, Caracas, after inmates rioted in protest at a planned transfer to another jail.
The prisoners said they feared for their lives if they were moved to other already overcrowded jails.
According to the non-governmental Venezuelan Prisons Observatory (VPO), in 2012 more than 50,000 inmates were housed in prisons built to hold 14,000.


Scotland centre Huw Jones will join Glasgow Warriors from South African outfit Stormers next season, the Pro12 club have confirmed.

The Edinburgh-born 23-year-old, who has four caps, has signed a two-year contract subject to a medical.
"It felt like the time was right to join Glasgow, having enjoyed my time in Cape Town in Super Rugby," he said.
"Obviously playing for Scotland, it makes a lot of sense to be playing in Scotland."
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Jones moved to South Africa after attending Millfield school in Somerset and played club rugby for False Bay and UCT Ikey Tigers before joining provincial outfit Western Province in 2014.
He made his Stormers debut the following year and won his first Scotland cap against Japan in 2016.
Jones scored two tries during a man-of-the-match performance against Australia and started Scotland's 27-22 Six Nations win over Ireland on Saturday.
"Glasgow are doing very well this year and look like they could continue to do well over the next couple of years and the chance to be part of a successful club was a big factor when I was making my decision," he said.
"Playing professional rugby in the northern hemisphere for the first time will be a great challenge.
"I get on well with all the Glasgow boys having got to know them in the Scotland camp and I spoke to them about the club and the city and they all had really good things to say."
Jones, who can also play at full-back and on the wing, will continue playing for the Stormers and Western Province for their respective 2017 Super Rugby and Currie Cup campaigns.
He has made 24 appearances for the Stormers in Super Rugby, scoring five tries during his time in Cape Town.
Jones has also played 16 times for Western Province and finished 2016 as the joint top try scorer in the Currie Cup with seven in six appearances.
He described the Pro12 as "an exciting championship" and hopes Glasgow will again qualify for the European Champions Cup.
Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend added: "It's great news that a player of Huw's ability and versatility will be joining the club next season.
"We first made contact with Huw three years ago when he was playing Varsity Cup rugby in Cape Town and it's been great to see how much he has developed at both Currie Cup and Super Rugby level.
"He also played very well for Scotland during the autumn Tests and I'm sure he will fit in very well at Scotstoun next season."


The world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, will run his last ever professional race at the World Athletics Championships in London, which begin on 4 August.

He's been an unstoppable force since winning his first Olympic gold medal in Beijing, China, nine years ago.
Between 2008 and last summer's Rio Olympics in Brazil, Bolt has won an incredible 19 Olympic and World Championship gold medals out of the 20 events he took part in.
It's a medal collection that makes him 'the greatest sprinter of all time', according to the International Olympic Committee.
But why is it not 20 gold medals from 20 races? What happened when world record holder Bolt did not win?
Let's go back to the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011. It's the 100m final.
Usain has looked good so far during the competition. He's been among the fastest sprinters in the qualifying rounds.
As he get ready for the final, the Jamaican does his famous lightning bolt pose and the crowd cheers.
On your marks, set, go!
Usain springs out of the blocks but then the starter's gun goes off. That's not what's supposed to happen.
Disaster, it's a false start!
A false start happens when an athlete begins a race before the official signal has been given.
They can't start running until after the starter's gun has been fired.
The Jamaican sprinter is well known for starting his races slowly. Some scientists think this is because Bolt is so tall, making it hard for him to get up to full speed quickly.
He makes up for the slower starts with his long strides catching other racers further down the track.
Normally, judging by all the gold medals he's won, his slow start clearly doesn't cause him any problems.
Usain said: "I have worked hard on my start all season. In the first round of the 100m it was perfect, in the second it was OK. But in the final I think I was suffering from anxiety, I was ready to go and get on the track and run. I think anxiety got the best of me."
In the past, athletes were allowed one false start before being disqualified from a race if they did it a second time.
But in 2010, new rules were introduced by the people in charge of athletics, the International Association of Athletic Federations, which disqualified athletes after just one false start.
Many people did not agree with the new rules as they believed that everyone should allowed a second chance.
After Bolt was disqualified from the 2011 final, his training partner Yohan Blake took gold in 9.92 seconds - 0.4 seconds slower than Bolt's world record.
It wasn't the end of the Bolt's World Championships though.
He went on to win the 200m and 4x100m relay with his Jamaica teammates.
Usain then continued to dominate athletics for the next six years.


Ulster will compete in the Pro12 semi-finals for the fourth consecutive season when they face Leinster at the RDS in Dublin on Friday night.

Ulster finished fourth in the table at the end of the regular season, with Leinster topping the standings.
Former Ulster back-rower, now BBC Sport NI analyst Tony McWhirter, offers his thoughts on the interprovincial derby.
Connacht entertain Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground in Galway in the other semi-final on Saturday evening.
T McW: Ulster had the game won against Glasgow last year until a dubious decision by the Television Match Official saw the momentum and initiative swing towards the hosts.
History stacks up against Ulster in the sense that no away team has ever won a semi-final in the competition since they were introduced but I think Ulster are a better side than last year and this is the best chance they will have.
They are playing with confidence and winning matches and you can't underestimate the confidence that going on a run of wins brings, especially when a number of those have been away from home.
T McW: You have to take Leinster's big defeat at the Kingspan Stadium a couple of weeks ago into consideration but they will be a different proposition at the RDS.
It's a sell-out crowd and their coach Leo Cullen has been talking revenge, so that will be high on their priorities.
T McW: The game will be won up front, as these matches generally are, and Leinster have a very strong scrum.
Ulster must keep their discipline, listen to the referee, get him on side, and make sure it stays that way.
It could come down to a kicking contest between the two fly-halves, Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson, but I think the game will be a bit more open than that.
Both teams went into their last games of the regular season knowing that they had to score four tries to secure five points, which left some gaps and holes to exploit, but Ulster will have to tighten up their defence for this game, which I'm sure they are capable of doing.
Ulster will have to be as near flawless as they can in their execution, keeping errors to a minimum and taking their scoring chances.
T McW: There won't be an awful lot in it at the end but I think Ulster will win.
They have lost a few important matches in recent years and Leinster have been a bit of a bogey team for them but Ulster are a team on the up, while Leinster are maybe slightly the opposite.
Having experienced players will be important but it's a big stage for the younger players to shine too.
A lot of the younger players have been progessing well since the turn of the year, the likes of Peter Browne, Callum Black and Ricky Lutton, who are maybe unsung heroes, and don't attract a lot of headlines.
They have really come to the party and put themselves into consideration for Ireland by their good late season form.
Leinster have not always played to their potential in recent weeks, while Ulster not only beat an Ospreys side who still had something to play for in their last game, they really put a score on them.
T McW: I fancy Glasgow to beat Connacht as the mitigating factor in their defeat in Galway a few weeks ago was that they had a man sent-off after 50 minutes when the score was 7-7.
Glasgow move the ball well and coach Gregor Townsend is very cute with how he tweaks his team selection. They also have experience of winning a competition and that counts for a lot.
Connacht's season has been a real fairytale and they probably deserve to be in the final given how they have performed all season but whether they can go that extra step I don't know, it might be just too much for them.
Tony McWhirter was talking to BBC Sport NI's Richard Petrie


Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been elected head of the opposition UMP, in what is being seen as the start of a new bid for the presidency.

Mr Sarkozy gained 64.5% of the vote, well ahead of his nearest rival Bruno Le Maire.
He was under pressure to win by a wide margin, and hoped to get more than 70% to keep his re-election hopes alive.
The UMP has struggled to be effective in opposition to Francois Hollande, despite the president's dismal ratings.
Mr Sarkozy, 59, won 85% of the vote when he was first elected party leader in 2004.
He served as president from 2007 and 2012 but left active politics after his defeat to Mr Hollande.
More than 150,000 party members - over 50% - voted in the election, despite the process being slowed down by a cyber attack.
Mr Le Maire, a former agriculture minister, received just less than 29.2% and a third candidate, MP Herve Mariton 6.3%.
Mr Sarkozy posted a message to supporters on his Facebook page (in French).
"I would like to thank all the UMP members who did me the honour of electing me leader of our political family," he said.
"Their mobilisation, at a level unequalled in the history of our movement, is the best response to two years of internal quarrels and divisions."
But a spokeswoman for Mr Hollande's Socialist Party said that the UMP's campaign had provided "nothing new for France".
"Mr Sarkozy's victory in the campaign for the UMP presidency is not the triumphal return that he was hoping for," Corinne Narassiguin said.
Florian Philippot, spokesman for the far-right National Front, described the result as an "utter failure" for Mr Sarkozy.
The UMP will choose its nominee for the 2017 presidential elections in two years, but correspondents say a lower than expected party vote for Mr Sarkozy could encourage other UMP leaders to stand against him.
Former prime ministers Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon are widely reported to want to be the UMP's candidate for president.
Mr Sarkozy is disliked by some French voters for his unusually high-profile private life, with critics branding his one-term tenure as the "bling-bling" presidency.
The 2012 leadership ballot - after Mr Sarkozy left office - degenerated into a hugely damaging row as Mr Fillon refused to accept the victory of Sarkozy ally Jean-Francois Cope.
Declared the winner, Mr Cope stood down this May after the party suffered badly in the European elections as the National Front capitalised on voter discontent.
National Front leader Marine Le Pen is due to be returned unopposed as party leader at its meeting in Lyon on Sunday.


Syrian government forces have entered the ancient town of Palmyra seized by Islamic State (IS) militants last year, state TV has said.

However, a monitoring group said the fighting was still outside the city, Reuters news agency reports.
Officials launched an offensive to retake the city earlier this month, backed by Russian air strikes.
The city is situated in a strategically important area between Damascus and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
IS seized the ruins of Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage site, and the adjoining modern town in May. It subsequently destroyed two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers, drawing global outrage.
The jihadist group, which has also demolished several world-renowned pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous.
Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, has condemned the destruction as a war crime.
State-run news channel Ikhbariya said government fighters had taken over a hotel district in the west of the city. There has been no independent confirmation of the reports.
Palmyra: Blowing ruins to rubble
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State news agency Sana showed warplanes flying overhead, helicopters firing missiles, and soldiers and armoured vehicles approaching Palmyra, Reuters said.
The UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said civilians began fleeing after IS warned them via loudspeakers to leave the city centre as fighting was drawing closer, the agency reported.
Recapturing Palmyra would be a significant victory for the government and Russia, which withdrew most of its forces last week after a six-month air campaign against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad that turned the tide of the five-year civil war in his favour.
The advance on Palmyra comes as representatives of the government and the main opposition umbrella group attend UN-led talks in Geneva aimed at finding a political solution to end the war.
The talks have been boosted by a nationwide cessation of hostilities brokered by the US and Russia that has largely held since it began on 27 February.
IS and its rival jihadist group, al-Nusra Front, are excluded from the truce.
The reduction in violence has also allowed aid to be delivered to besieged areas.


Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has announced a long-awaited plan to devolve his political responsibilities to an elected figure.

The Dalai Lama said he would begin the formal process of stepping down at a meeting of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile next Monday.
He said the move would be to the long-term benefit of Tibetans.
The announcement came in a speech by the Dalai Lama marking the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.
"As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power," he said in Dharamsala, the Indian town that has become his base.
"Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect."
He added that his decision was not made because he wanted to "shirk responsibility" or felt disheartened, emphasising that it was in the best interests of the Tibetan people.
By Damian  GrammaticasBBC News, Beijing
There is already an elected Tibetan government-in-exile with a prime minister, so the powers the Dalai Lama plans to hand over next week are limited, like signing laws and administering oaths.
He will retain his much more significant role as Tibet's spiritual leader.
Behind all this lies a power struggle between Beijing and Tibet's exiles over who will succeed the Dalai Lama when he dies.
China's communist-led government is likely to try to hand pick its own reincarnation.
By devolving political power, the Dalai Lama is trying to ensure Tibetans will have an elected leader they can look to, who is outside China and beyond the Communist Party's control.
When parliament met next week, he would formally propose the constitutional amendments necessary to devolve formal authority to an elected leader, he said.
Correspondents say that whoever replaces the Dalai Lama faces a daunting task, because no other Tibetan comes close to matching his authority as a spiritual and political leader.
They say his move is part of a wider struggle between Dharamsala and Beijing over who succeeds the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama, who heads Tibet's exiled government, has lived in Dharamsala since fleeing across the Himalayas following the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
He has said he does not want independence for Tibet, only meaningful autonomy.
The Dalai Lama is routinely vilified by the Chinese authorities - who he called on in his speech to show more transparency and allow greater freedom of expression.
Is development killing Tibet's way of life?
In Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described the Dalai Lama's announcement as trickery.
"He has often talked about retirement in the past few years. I think these are his tricks to deceive the international community," Jiang Yu said.
Qiangba Puncog, Tibet's former Beijing-appointed governor and now head of the regional delegation at China's ongoing annual session of parliament, said the move was irrelevant.
"Whatever moves they (the government-in-exile) take - the Dalai Lama's 'retirement' or electing a successor, they will all be illegal and will not be recognised," China's state news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Chinese officials have recently announced travel restrictions to Tibet ahead of the third anniversary of riots there.
In March 2008, Tibet witnessed a wave of violent anti-China protests - the worst unrest there for 20 years.
Beijing blamed the unrest on followers of the Dalai Lama, who it said were seeking to separate Tibet from China.
China responded to the unrest with a massive military crackdown.
Many Tibetans have complained about the growing domination of China's majority Han population in Tibet and accuse the government of trying to dilute their culture.
In the run-up to the anniversary, police in the Indian capital Delhi detained more than 30 Tibetan exiles protesting outside the Chinese embassy on Wednesday.
The protesters wore yellow T-shirts and waved red and blue Tibetan flags, chanting "Free Tibet" and "We want freedom".
Protests were also reported in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on Thursday with nine people arrested.


A man has pleaded guilty to murdering a student near Leeds railway station.

Billy Mankelow was found with severe head injuries under a railway arch in Swinegate on 25 April. He was taken to hospital but died the following day.
The 20-year-old, from Tonbridge in Kent, was studying at the University of Leeds.
Richard  Danter, 31, of Queen's Road in Leeds, admitted murder at Leeds Crown Court and will be sentenced on 21 August.
Prosecutors said the pair met at the city's Viaduct Club and were seen dancing and socialising.
They left the club together at 02:55 and headed towards the Dark Arches area of the city, where Danter attacked Mr Mankelow and then tried to conceal his body.
The victim was found unconscious a short time later by a member of the public.
Robin Allen, from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Like many people up and down the country, Billy Mankelow had finished work and had gone out on a Friday night to socialise with some friends.
"However, he had the misfortune of meeting Richard Danter, who had a history of violence [and] carried out a violent and unprovoked attack on the victim."


At least two people were killed and 20 injured in western Germany when a passenger train hit a tractor-trailer on a level crossing, police say.

The accident happened near the town of Ibbenbueren when the train, from Osnabrueck, struck the vehicle which was carrying manure, officials added.
Three of those injured were said to be in a serious condition.
Initial reports said the vehicle got stuck while trying to cross the railway line, police said.
Police spokesman Jochen Laschke said the incident happened in a rural area close to Ibbenbueren which is about 23km (15 miles) west of Osnabrueck.
"We got an emergency call at 11:31 (09:32 GMT) and rescue team, fire fighters and psychologists from all over the region were activated to help."
"The train was very crowded," he said.
Mr Laschke said that after hitting the tractor-trailer, the train came to a halt about 200m (650ft) down the track. He added that the driver of the tractor had not been injured.
Footage from the scene showed parts of the tractor on one side of the tracks and a tank that had been carrying the manure on the other side.
The front of the train was badly damaged with windows and metal parts torn away.
German media said the train, which had been heading to Ibbenbueren, was operated by private rail company Westfalenbahn.


A primary school has allowed its pupils to wear slippers in class after research suggested it helps them get better grades.

Findern Primary School in Derbyshire has been trialling the idea there are benefits to children's learning when in a "shoeless" environment.
Professor Stephen Heppell from Bournemouth University said he found children behaved better without shoes.
Findern head teacher Emma Tichener said the pupils have been "more relaxed".
Prof Heppell researched the topic for more than 10 years in 25 countries.
Shoeless learning has been carried out in schools in Scandinavia and New Zealand and learning centres in other countries.
Mrs Tichener said: "We are noticing that the children seem more relaxed and calmer than usual," she said.
"We hope that in time we can measure their progress and see if it has made a difference in their achievements.
"We are looking for different ideas to improve the experience for our students so if this works then it might become a more permanent."
Mrs Titchener added that the approach was "only about enhancing" the pupils learning and "not a compulsory part" of the school's uniform policy.
Source: Professor Stephen Heppell's blog
West Thornton Primary Academy, in Croydon, Surrey has several shoeless zones around the school.
Teacher Ayla Arli said the children "felt more comfortable so results went up".
"We've definitely seen a change in behaviour," she said.
"Behaviour is much calmer in the learning zones, the noise levels have gone down.
"It was their idea, they had to present the data back to us to prove that this is not just a gimmick, this actually has an impact on learning."


On his many trips to Internet cafes in the bustling central Indian city of Indore, lawyer Kamlesh Vaswani discovered what he calls the "epidemic" of pornography.

"I would go to download important Supreme Court judgements, and pornographic adverts would pop up instead. And when I looked around, I saw rows of children surfing porn openly without a care in the world," says Mr Vaswani, 43, a quiet man with a probing look.
He says he went to the local court and discussed it with his colleagues. "They were also saying that porn was everywhere around us. Something had to be done about it."
What shook him up further, he says, was the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old Indian student in Delhi in December 2012. The attack caused international outrage and prompted India to introduce stringent anti-rape laws.
Mr Vaswani had been in Delhi on some work on the day of the incident, and he says he felt "guilty" that he couldn't do anything to avert the crime. He believed that the attackers must have been watching porn.
"Why are the youth failing India? Because they are drowning in porn," he says.
He also believes that India's GDP could be increased if people were discouraged from watching porn. "People watch porn, and become selfish. They don't want to give back to the nation," he says.
Three winters ago, Mr Vaswani began writing a public interest petition to the Supreme Court, making a controversial case for a ban on Internet porn. Confined to home to look after his ailing father, he wrote up the 200-page, 20,000-word plea on his laptop in a month's time.
The top court - to his surprise, he says - admitted the petition and heard it on April 2013.
Since then, Mr Vaswani's petition has acquired a life of its own: earlier in August, it was responsible for the government's rather ham-handed decision to block free access to 857 porn sites, which was swiftly lifted following outrage over the move.  Mr Vaswani has attended nearly 20 hearings related to the case in a little more than two years.
The petition seeks a ban on all sites showing porn, and calls for "new, exhaustive anti-pornography laws".
Mr Vaswani's petition says that pornography is "worse than Hitler, worse than Aids, cancer or any epidemic. It is more catastrophic than nuclear holocaust, and it must be stopped".
Many would call the petition's words extreme - or paranoid. And many in India have argued against a ban on pornography - arguing that this would restrict civil liberties.
However,  Mr Vaswani is adamant that pornography makes people selfish and unproductive.
His petition also argues that watching porn "puts the country's security in danger, encourages violent acts, unacceptable behaviour in society, exploitation of children and lowers the dignity of women".
Mr Vaswani, the son of a government worker and a homemaker mother, grew up in a middle-class joint family. He went to two schools, including a convent.
He says he failed to clear the highly competitive medical examinations five times, dashing his hopes of becoming a doctor. He then moved between various career choices: he picked up a degree in science, wanted to pick up one in arts, and then settled for a career in law. He has been a practising lawyer for more than a decade now.
I met Mr Vaswani at his home in Indore, an unkempt city, bristling with shops and lawyers.
He lives with his teacher wife and his school-going son in an austere two-bedroom apartment in a grotty, 35-year-old multi-storeyed building. The pale pink walls of the sitting room were adorned with a religious painting and another of his guru, while a book on criminal law and the Hindu holy book Bhagvad Gita lay on a small bed flanked by a TV set.
Mr Vaswani describes himself as "an ordinary lawyer".
"I am grateful to the top court for admitting my petition. My next public interest litigation will demand cheap and affordable treatment for cancer," he says. It is a tribute to his father who died of cancer last year.
Mr Vaswani has been joined by some fellow travellers in his journey to banish porn.
One of them is Atul Gupta, a 40-year-old electronics engineer and an alumnus of the prestigious Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science, who lives near Delhi. Mr Gupta has been going to schools and people's homes for years installing filters and blocking porn sites. Last year, after reading about Mr Vaswani's petition in the papers, he got in touch with him and offered him help, telling him that the technology was available to block sites.
"I think porn is like drugs. It needs to be banned," says Mr Gupta.
Then there is Suresh Shukla, a 37-year-old chemical engineer from top engineering school Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),  who now runs a company based in the holy town of Varanasi selling anti-pornography solutions and filters.
He provided the list of 857 "high traffic, verified sites" to the government, which led to the sites being blocked briefly. The number of sites classed as porn by his company has now swelled to more than 200,000, he says.
At his company, he says, women researchers and employees "enjoy the veto power" over men, in categorising certain "non-explicit" sites like joke and cartoon sites, as porn. "This is not about Mr Vaswani, this is about a larger battle," he says.
Last week, the government told the Supreme Court at a hearing of Mr Vaswani's petition that although child pornography must be banned, "we cannot be present in everyone's bedroom".
Was this a setback to his campaign, I asked.
"Not at all. The government is trying to divert the issue and make it one about invasion of privacy. This is not about privacy, this is about saving India," he said, sounding confident.
"I am confident that the court will overrule objections and ban porn."
I asked him whether he was being too optimistic.
"It will happen sooner than you think," he said. "Maybe in four-five months."


The US Democratic Party chair says she will resign as a row over leaked emails threatens efforts for party unity at the presidential nominating convention.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz's move follows a leak of emails appearing to suggest that party insiders tried to thwart the campaign by Hillary Clinton's rival.
Bernie Sanders had pressed for Ms Wasserman Schultz to quit on the eve of the convention.
Mrs Clinton is to be officially nominated at the Philadelphia meeting.
Vermont senator Mr Sanders had said Ms Wasserman Schultz "should not be chair" of the Democratic National Committee.
"And I think these emails reiterate that reason why she should not be chair," he told ABC's This Week programme.
More than 19,000 internal DNC emails were published by the WikiLeaks website on 22 July, from the accounts of seven leading figures.
Some revealed officials looking at ways to undermine Mr Sanders' campaign, including using his faith.
Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman Schultz had become the face of the obstinate party hierarchy for progressive Bernie Sanders supporters. Now they have claimed her (political) head.
She probably would have survived the tendentious 2016 Democratic primary campaign were it not for the DNC email hacks, which showed that she helmed an organisation that chafed at the rise of a candidate who didn't even identify as a member of the Democratic Party until recently.
The revelation that those in the heart of the Democratic establishment sought to undermine the anti-establishment Sanders is roughly on a par with police Capt Renault's professed shock that gambling was taking place in the Casablanca club he was raiding, as a waiter hands him his winnings.
Once the email evidence was laid bare, however, Ms Wasserman Schultz's fate was sealed. Hillary Clinton and her campaign are desperate to put a unified face on their party - particularly in order to offer a stark contrast with the Republican discord last week.
If that has to come at the expense of Ms Wasserman Schultz's political future, they probably consider it a small price to pay. There's no guarantee that just one sacrifice will be enough to soothe the Bernie brigades, however.
They have long suspected the Democratic Party was out to get them. Today they have some proof.
Ms Wasserman Schultz said she would "step down as party chair at the end of this convention" but expressed hope that all party supporters would rally behind the event.
"We have planned a great and unified convention this week and I hope and expect that the DNC team that has worked so hard to get us to this point will have the strong support of all Democrats in making sure this is the best convention we have ever had," she said in a statement.
She added that she still plans to carry out her duties to formally open and close the convention, and will also speak at the gathering.
President Barack Obama expressed gratitude for her services to the party in a statement.
Mr Sanders and his supporters have also expressed disappointment at Mrs Clinton's choice of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, preferring someone further to the left.
But Mr Sanders did say: "I have known Tim Kaine for a number of years... Tim is a very, very smart guy. He is a very nice guy."
Mrs Clinton's campaign received a boost on Sunday with the announcement that Michael Bloomberg, who was elected New York mayor as a Republican, will speak to endorse her this week.
The Democrats' four-day convention starts on Monday, with speeches by First Lady Michelle Obama and Mr Sanders.
It comes just after the Republican convention that saw Donald Trump declared the Republican presidential nominee.


Captain Scott Brown remains hopeful that Leigh Griffiths will be fit to face Rosenborg but thinks Celtic have plenty others who can score goals.

Brendan Rodgers' side were without Griffiths and fellow striker Moussa Dembele as they drew 0-0 in the first leg of their Champions League tie.
But the Scot is free of suspension for the return leg of the qualifier.
"Hopefully the wee man could be fit. But, if not, we have a lot of options," insisted the midfielder.
"He's been working around the clock to try to get fit.
"The wee man's always chomping at the bit to get on the park to score goals.
"As soon as he gets that ball, he wants to put it in the back of the net and I'm sure he'll be ready to do that. Here's hoping anyway."
Following the goalless first leg at Celtic Park, Rodgers explained his lack of cover for Griffiths and Dembele by stressing that having three top strikers at a Scottish Premiership club would be an expensive luxury.
Midfielders Tom Rogic and Scott Sinclair were both used up front during the third qualifying round game against Rosenborg, while Callum McGregor could be an option in Norway after his three goals in Saturday's friendly win over Sunderland.
"The gaffer is very relaxed that way and he knows we've got attacking midfielders who can create chances and score goals," said Brown.
"Scotty, Tom, Jamesie Forrest, Callum McGregor scored a hat-trick at the weekend, so we know we've got people there who can score goals.
"That's why we've got a big squad and that's why we believe and put faith in other people as well."
Brown has shrugged off a knock he took near the end of the match against Rosenborg in Glasgow.
"I'm fine," he said. "It's old age. That's what it is. Just a wee slight tackle.
"The guy left his studs in and I've managed to kick the bottom of his foot, but everything's okay."
Brown does not accept that home advantage now makes Rosenborg favourites to reach the play-off stage.
"The game plan was spot on from them," he admitted. "They defended well and they managed to stop us from scoring goals.
"But we had a lot of possession and now we just need to move the ball a lot quicker and create more chances and, once we create those chances, we have to take them as well.
"It's 0-0, so if we score a goal, they need to score two.
"It's still 50-50. It depends on who wants it more on the day."
Meanwhile, Brown revealed that former Celtic team-mate Shaun Maloney was at their Lennoxtown training ground on Monday after being linked with a return to the club as an under-20s coach.
The 34-year-old Scotland midfielder, who turned down the offer of a contract extension with Hull City, had been poised to join Aberdeen until an injury problem was revealed.
"He was in today to have a look around and I was speaking away to him," added Brown. "The wee man would be brilliant.
He's just a great guy overall. He works well, is willing to learn and he'll bring a lot of class as well."


The New Forest should be used to test driverless car technology in a bid to cut animal deaths, the National Park Authority (NPA) has said.

A total of 63 animals - including the area's famous New Forest ponies - died on forest roads in 2016.
Nigel Matthews, head of recreation management, said he would like to see in-car technology to warn drivers.
He said ongoing measures such as signage and speed traps were making an impact on accident figures.
Under ancient rights, ponies, donkeys, cattle and pigs owned by commoners have roamed free in the New Forest for centuries.
Wild deer can also be a hazard.
Mr Matthews said every death was a "tragedy" for the commoners and invited car companies to use the forest to develop in-vehicle technology.
He said: "Let's have a test on a New Forest road - what would it do when it sees a pony standing beside the road?  Can it work out if that pony is going to step out into the road, which humans find pretty much impossible?
"That technology could work in the dark and we know a lot of accidents in the forest happen at night."
Guided by five radars, four lasers and 12 cameras, a self-driving car had its first trials in London earlier this month.
Alex Eriksson, of the University of Southampton Transportation Research Group, said: "We have sensing equipment that allows us to detect pedestrians - this tech could be used to reduce the impact of wild animals in rural areas.
"I don't think we're ready to drive fully autonomously to avoid animals in real time - at the moment the human reliability and flexibility trumps that of computer algorithms."


The US ambassador to the UN has said her country "absolutely" supports the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

But Nikki Haley also said the Trump administration was "thinking outside the box as well", suggesting it was open to other possible solutions.
For many years, the US has advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel.
But Mr Trump indicated on Wednesday he would not insist on that.
Viewpoint - 'A subtle but vital shift in US policy'
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2014.
"We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well," Ms Haley said on Thursday, "which is - what does it take to bring these two sides to the table? what do we need to have them agree on?"
She spoke out after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned President Trump there was "no alternative" to a two-state solution.
Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier, Mr Trump promised to deliver a "great" peace deal for the Middle East.
But he said both sides must compromise and that it was ultimately up to them to decide how to settle the conflict.
"So I'm looking at two states and one state," he said. "And I like the one that both parties like."
A "two-state solution" to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is the declared goal of their leaders and the international community.
It is the shorthand for a final settlement that would see the creation of an independent state of Palestine within pre-1967 ceasefire lines in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, living peacefully alongside Israel.
The UN, the Arab League, the European Union, Russia and, until now, the US routinely restate their commitment to the concept.
When he was asked about a two-state solution on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu said he wanted to focus on "substance" and not "labels".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, said he remained committed to the goal of statehood.
He also seized on President Trump's comments urging Mr Netanyahu to "hold back on settlements for a little bit".
Since Mr Trump took office last month, Israel has approved thousands of new homes in West Bank and East Jerusalem, land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Reconsidering the two-state solution
The Israeli government is hoping for better relations with the White House after eight years of friction with the former Obama administration.
But France, which in January organised a multi-national conference which reaffirmed support for a two-state solution alone, seemed unimpressed with the apparent change in direction.
Its ambassador to the UN, Francois Delattre, told reporters "our commitment to the two-state solution is stronger than ever", according to AFP news agency.
In pro-Netanyahu Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom, Boaz Bismuth welcomes a "more refreshing era" in Washington, saying Mr Trump's comments show he is "good for the Jews."
But Barack Ravid - in left-of-centre Ha'aretz - accuses Mr Trump of acting "recklessly" in apparently conflating the one-state and two-state plans.
Shimon Schiffer - in centrist Yedioth Aharonoth - makes a similar point, saying Trump adopted the "tone of someone for whom it is not really important whether he orders a portion or half a portion of falafel."
For the pro-Fatah Palestinian newspaper al-Quds, Mr Trump has shown he is close to Israel's position, and that the two-state solution has "withered".
In Gaza's Hamas-run Filastin daily, Fayez Abu-Shammala says it is "wonderful" that the White House has shown its "real position" rather than acting as "an enemy pretending to be a friend". He adds that the "time for resistance has come".
Meanwhile, Mr Trump's choice for America's next ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, faced repeated heckling at his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
He apologised for having likened left-wing American Jews to Jewish prisoners who worked for the Nazis during the Holocaust and pledged that in an official capacity he would tone down his language.
The right-winger is a strong critic of the two-state solution, supports Jewish settlement building and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Five former US ambassadors to Israel have written a letter to committee members declaring him unqualified because of his "extreme, radical positions", AP says.
Asked on Wednesday about his campaign promise of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, Mr Trump said: "We'll see what happens."
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their promised future state - but Israel claims the entire city as its undivided capital.


Saudi Arabia's stock market has fallen sharply after it announced public spending cuts and rises in tax, fuel and energy prices in 2016.

The country's main stock index fell 3% in the opening 15 minutes of trade with petrochemical firms worst hit.
Saudi Basic Industries, the biggest petrochemical producer, tumbled 8.3% while Saudi Kayan lost 4.8%.
Saudi Arabia's budget deficit soared to $98bn (Â£65.7bn) this year on the back of falling crude prices.
In the first budget under King Salman, the kingdom said revenues reached 608bn riyals (Â£108.7bn; $162bn), down 15% on official expectations.
Spending for the year hit 975bn riyals, some 13% more than forecast.
To help make up the shortfall, the country's finance ministry said it would cut subsidies for fuel.
Petrol prices could in some cases increase by as much as 50%, authorities said, although they will remain low by international standards.
Diesel, electricity and water prices will also increase.
King Salman said the budget came "in light of the decrease in oil prices, the economic and regional and international financial challenges - where global economic growth has declined from its previous level - and the lack of stability in some of the neighbouring states."
Oil prices have plunged from a five-year high of $125 a barrel in March 2012 to just $37.18 now.
Saudi Arabia said that oil revenues, which make up 77% of the total revenue figure for 2015, are down 23% compared to last year.
It is the largest member of the Opec oil-producing cartel and has refused to cut output in order to raise prices in an attempt to put other producers - mainly US shale oil companies - out of business.
Saudi thinks it can withstand low oil prices for longer than US producers, many of which are small, heavily-indebted firms.
Spending on military and security projects reached 20bn riyals in 2015, Saudi Arabia said, following its intervention in Yemen as well as action against militant group Islamic State.
The majority of the increase in overall spending was on salaries to civil and military Saudi employees.


Hundreds of potential victims have come forward with information on a convicted paedophile who abused children at a London independent school.

US national William Vahey, 64, taught history and geography at Southbank International School in London from 2009 until 2013.
Since his death last month it has emerged he preyed on dozens of boys.
The investigation is being led by the FBI, with help from the Metropolitan Police.
The teacher, who is also believed to have abused children at other schools around the world, killed himself two days after police in the US filed a warrant to search a computer drive belonging to him containing pornographic images of at least 90 boys aged from 12 to 14, who appeared to be drugged and unconscious.
The FBI revealed it has been "contacted by several hundred individuals from around the globe wishing either to reach out as potential victims or provide information in the ongoing investigation".
Images of between 50 and 60 students at Southbank were found on the computer drive, with the school's chairman of governors, Sir Chris Woodhead, saying he had been left sickened by the revelations which emerged in April.
Many parents at the school have said they do not want to be informed of any details relating to possible offences against their children.
On April 22 officers executed a search warrant at Vahey's address in north London, where officers recovered a laptop and 11 memory sticks.
Vahey was convicted over a child sex offence in California in 1969 but appears to have failed to sign the sexual offenders' register, which allowed him to slip through the net and go on to work in several schools around the world.
He was found dead in Luverne, Minnesota, on 21 March.


Eleven homes had to be evacuated following a landslide in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The slip happened on Heol Y Beiliau in Llantrisant at about 18:10 BST on Sunday.
Head of control at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Jennie Griffiths, tweeted that debris was "falling into homes and placing pressure on them".
The council said the suspected cause was the collapse of a retaining wall at one of the properties.
Emergency planning and building control officers remained at the scene on Monday morning.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council leader Andrew Morgan said: "As a precautionary measure, emergency services evacuated a number of homes last night, with the residents moving in with friends and family.
"These households have not yet returned to their addresses and council emergency planning officers are meeting with those affected.
"A council structural engineer is also on site to assess the situation."