US stocks edged down at the close after the US central bank raised interest rates for the second time this year.

The Federal cited continued US economic growth and job market strength.
It also said it will begin cutting holdings of bonds and other securities this year.
The Dow Jones closed up 0.22% at 21,374.56, while the wider S&P 500 index fell 0.10% to 2,437.92. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.41%, to 6,194.89.
"I don't think that there is really too much new in here outside of the fact that the Fed remains committed to the slow gradual normalisation process despite some of the weak data that we've had," said Mark Cabana, head of US short rates strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
US consumer prices unexpectedly fell in May and retail sales recorded their biggest drop in 16 months.


Nearly 50 Metropolitan Police officers have been suspended for corruption in three years, figures show.

Of the 258 officers suspended for offences also including sexual assault, neglect and assault, 38% of cases were proven and 11% of officers were sacked.
The officers were paid about Â£3.6m during their suspensions.
A lawyer who handles complaints against the police has called the figures "shocking". The Met said it aimed to investigate allegations "quickly".
Police officers and staff can only be suspended if they are likely to interfere with the course of an investigation or if it is the public interest.
As such, most suspensions occur when an officer is subject to a serious criminal investigation or a serious internal misconduct investigation.
The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show the number of officers suspended on full pay for three years between 2009-11.
Nearly half of those suspended were special constables, who are unpaid.
Although the specifics of each case has not been revealed, the Met said some instances of corruption included handling stolen goods and fraudulent overtime claims.
One of the most high profile cases is that of Ali Dizaei, a commander who was dismissed after he was jailed for misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.
Another is PC Simon Harwood who was recently sacked for gross misconduct after he was found guilty of breaching standards in connection with Ian Tomlinson's death at the G20 protests.
He was initially suspended from duty in 2011.
Others suspended include: Gareth Beard who was found guilty of fraud; Philip Juhasz who was sacked for racially abusing the manager of a snack kiosk at King's Cross railway station; Det Con Daren Pooley who was jailed for defrauding the force after he overcharged for rented apartments, and David Price who was found guilty of growing cannabis.
The BBC has also obtained figures which show 372 police staff were suspended between 2009-2011.
The figures do not include those officers who have been arrested and suspended as part of Operation Elveden, the inquiry into alleged payments to officers from journalists, as these arrests have been this year.
Police officer suspensions in full
Police staff suspensions in full
Shamik Dutta, a lawyer who handles complaints against police officers, said: "The figures are shocking.
"In my experience when members of the public complain about police officers it is very rare for those officers to be suspended.
"However, even if they are, investigations can take far too long leading to victims of police misconduct suffering delayed justice.
"The figures show that those delays in investigations also result in great cost to the taxpayer where officers are suspended on full pay."
A report by the Independent Police Complaints Commision (IPCC) on corruption found the force received 1,487 complaints between 2008 and 2011.
Of those, 345 were referred to the IPCC for investigation.
The IPCC report concluded there had to be clearer information on what constitutes police corruption.
In a statement, the Met said: "Whilst we aim to investigate allegations of misconduct as quickly as possible, the length of an investigation is often determined by the complex nature of some allegations which can be beyond the control of the MPS, as we may need to allow the judicial system or IPCC to complete their proceedings before the force can conclude an investigation.
"While our aim is always to carry out this work in the quickest and most efficient way possible, we also have to ensure investigations are thorough and robust for the benefit of the complainant, the general public, the force as a whole and the officer under investigation."


Andy Murray's management team has expressed concern about the prices tickets for his charity event in Glasgow later this year are now fetching online.

Tickets for Andy Murray Live at the Hydro in November went on sale on Thursday.
Half of them were priced at £25 and the rest had a face value of up to £150.
It sold out within hours and tickets are now appearing on resale sites priced as high as £3,000 for two.
Sir Andy's team told BBC Scotland they were in discussions with the Hydro to seek a solution if one can be found.
Murray will host Swiss ace Roger Federer at the second exhibition event at the SSE Hydro on 7 November.
Federer accepted Murray's invitation after the Scot agreed to play at the Swiss' own charity event in April.
The tickets are being advertised on secondary ticketing websites, such as Viagogo, an online platform where live event tickets are bought and sold.
Ticketmaster, which owns the Get Me In secondary ticketing site, said it had removed the Andy Murray Live event from its site.
A spokeswoman said the site did not offer tickets for resale for charity events as a matter of company policy.
Adam Webb from the Fanfare Alliance, which is campaigning for tighter regulation in the sector, said people should not rush to buy tickets from such sites.
He said: "The first thing I would say is don't buy from these websites. You are being sold to by ticket touts.
"The market is so unregulated right now and the Consumer Rights Act that was passed in 2015 is light touch regulation that is not being enforced.
"I would urge people to be patient and contact the venue. Other tickets may be released closer to the date of the event.
"These ticketing websites are very good at manipulating their customers and making them feel that they have to act quickly, but it may well be that there will be other opportunities for people to attend the event."


Electric buses have been removed from service in York following a fire onboard a vehicle.

No-one was injured in the fire on board the Park and Ride service on Stonebow at around 11:45 BST on Thursday.
First, which operates the vehicles, has removed all 11 buses while it carries out safety checks.
The company said services were running as normal and the electric vehicles would be reintroduced once safety assessments were completed.
The vehicles, which run on rechargeable lithium batteries, have been used in the city since 2014.
First said an investigation into what caused the fire had been launched.
The company also thanked the driver who stopped the vehicle after a warning light came on and removed the passengers.


Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his final Budget before the general election - his message was that Britain is growing again - in fact faster than any other major advanced economy in the world.

But if you thought that meant he was about to announce some pre-election giveaways in order to woo undecided voters you're likely to be disappointed.
Some areas did see announcements that are aimed at stimulating growth - the chancellor announced provisional agreement had been struck to allow Greater Manchester to keep 100% of the additional growth in local business as part of the government's drive to build a "northern powerhouse".
In fact his speech was peppered with place names - from funding to help boost the oil industry in Aberdeen to a £1 billion world-first scheme to provide green energy from the tides of the Severn estuary and £60 million of funding for energy research in the Midlands.
But, despite the fact he was on his feet for over an hour, the South East region was conspicuous by its absence in his Budget speech.
Measures that had been trailed, such as increasing inheritance tax, which would have helped those with properties in the South East which have increased in value, are now going to be reviewed before any changes are implemented.
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There are measures which will be welcomed. The Budget book recognised that housing remains a significant challenge across the South East.
The government created an Urban Development Corporation to drive forward development of a new garden city in Ebbsfleet. Board members are due to be announced and it's due to be up and running by next month.
For individuals, he announced a new ISA to help first time buyers - those who save £12,000 will see their savings increased by £3,000 in order to help them onto the housing ladder.
But, other than that, there was very little to bring cheer. It's always said George Osborne delivers very political Budgets and this one was no different.
I think he's taken the calculated risk that levels of income in the South East remain a lot higher than in other parts of the country so therefore it will be of greater benefit to help boost the economy in places like the North West and Yorkshire, rather than Kent or Sussex.
Also, when you look at the raw politics of this region's 29 MPs, 25 of them are Conservatives. Labour has so far failed to make the resurgence in the South East they would have liked ahead of this election.
Of course there are marginal seats - Hastings and Rye, Brighton Kemptown, and Hove and Portslade are all held with majorities of less than 2,000.
But the Conservatives are far more confident of holding on in these seats than in other parts of the country - in fact there were nine mentions of Birmingham in his speech. Warwickshire North, held by the Tories with a majority of just 54 votes, will benefit from the funding for energy research at the universities.
Of course political opponents have seized on the chancellor's new-found affection for the north of England.
There is a mention in the budget red book about the government providing £100,000 for a further study into reopening the Lewes-Uckfield railway line.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, Norman Baker, welcomed the announcement, saying: "It has become clearer than ever in recent weeks that there is a need for an alternative line from the Sussex Coast to London.
"A reopened Lewes-Uckfield line would provide exactly that, enabling through trains to run from Seaford and Newhaven via Uckfield, and also freeing up space on the Brighton main line for more Brighton trains."
Welcome news for Lewes, but in the scheme of the whole Budget £100,000 is a drop in the ocean.
The UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the the chancellor was in danger of increasing the north/south divide. He said: "Marginal constituencies all over the country were mentioned but nothing in the South East got a mention at all."
He said he could only conclude that the chancellor and prime minister "think the South East is sewn up".
"Labour aren't doing well and therefore there is no need to even mention it," Mr Farage said.
The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Chris Leslie also accused the chancellor of being complacent about voters in the South East.
The Green's Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas described it as "an electioneering budget from a chancellor who puts politics above people".
With just 50 days until the election, Mr Osborne has to hope he's done enough with this budget to woo voters in marginal seats while not alienating traditional Tory voters in the South East.


Investigators have found that a quarter of all money raised through China's state-run lottery programme in a two-year period was misused.

Nearly $3bn (Â£1.9bn) was embezzled or spent on cars, travel and new offices.
The corruption was discovered after the first-ever widespread audit of the lottery. Some of the embezzled money has now been recovered.
Gambling is illegal in China, apart from a few exceptions, including the lottery.
The state auditor's investigation looked at the use of lottery funds between 2012 and 2014 and spanned 18 provinces.
The worst abuses found included 32 lottery shops that spent $500m (Â£320m) on building training centres and hotels.
The report did not specify whether any officials had been punished for the abuses, saying only that some were "blamed".
Although authorities have reclaimed some of the money, the allegations are likely to shake public confidence in the state-run lottery, the BBC's Martin Patience reports from Beijing.
The lottery is hugely popular with the country's growing middle class and has brought in revenues of around 2 trillion yuan ($320bn; Â£200bn) since launching in 1987, according to official media.
China is expected to overtake the US next year as the world's largest lottery market.
Casinos and other forms of gambling are banned on the mainland but government-run lotteries or those in which proceeds are donated to charity are legal and popular.
The audit's revelations come amid a high-profile campaign against corruption by President Xi Jinping's government.


Norton have signed the Australian duo of Cameron Donald and David Johnson for the 2016 Isle of Man TT races.

Both men will contest the opening Superbike and Senior TT races on the SG5 Norton machine.
Donald, a two-time winner who has represented the team since 2014, said Norton have made a "huge amount of progress in that time".
Fellow countryman Johnson, who made his TT debut in 2010 winning the Newcomers Trophy, is a rising star of the sport.
The Adelaide racer said: "It is going to be an incredible experience riding a Norton around the Isle of Man Mountain Course, and with Cameron Donald as my team-mate is a massive honour.
"I'm really stoked and will give it my best shot."
Stuart Garner, chief executive of Norton Motorcycles, added: "We've made incredible progress since taking Norton back to the TT.
"This was always going to be a long-term project and we're definitely on the next stage of our evolution. Running a two-man team will give us the best opportunity to move things forward."


Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner thinks the Parkhead side will reach the Champions League group stage if they beat Malmo 1-0 at home on Wednesday.

The Swedish champions are in Glasgow for the first leg of the play-off tie.
"If Celtic go to Sweden with one goal and a clean sheet, I think they will go through," said Bonner.
"They're much more compact this year. That was the making of them in getting through the last round - a clean sheet at home. It's the key objective."
Celtic manager Ronny Deila has guided his team to three clean sheets in their four European matches this season, while domestically they have not conceded in two of their four matches.
"I expect Celtic to score, but having that clean sheet sets them up for that second leg," Bonner told BBC Radio Scotland.
"You've got to take the whole tie over the two legs. You can't just go out all gung-ho and try to score goals and then leave yourself open.
"They proved against Qarabag in the last round that they can go there and defend.
"The crowd is going to play a big part tonight. I'm sure it's going to be a full house and they will create that atmosphere that we love at Parkhead."
Deila mentioned at his media conference on Tuesday that new signing Scott Allan might play a part against Swedish champions Malmo.
The Norwegian also admitted that whether to start Nadir Ciftci was one of the main selection dilemmas he is facing.
Turkish striker Ciftci has been serving a six-game domestic ban for biting.
And, while the former Dundee United forward has been able to play in European games, he has not yet found the net.
However, Bonner - who made over 500 appearances for Celtic - reckons this is definitely a match for using Ciftci.
"They bought him to start," he added. "If they play a compact game, they need someone they can hit up front who can hold the ball up.
"Leigh Griffiths has played well and scored goals, but I don't know if he can do the same job of holding it up and getting players up to support."


John Cleese is reported to be in talks to return to the BBC for a sitcom which has been written specifically for him.

The Fawlty Towers and Monty Python star was quoted in a magazine interview last year as saying "there's no way I want to work in TV, especially at the BBC".
In recent years, the 74-year-old British actor has mainly concentrated on voiceover roles.
But BBC comedy head Shane Allen told the Daily Telegraph Cleese is a "comedy god, and the door is always open".
"We're in discussions about a piece that he might be in. It's a sitcom and it's very early days," Mr Allen said.
Cleese, who appeared on the big screen in A Fish Called Wanda and two Harry Potter films, did take on small appearances in US TV sitcoms Whitney and Entourage between 2010 and 2013.
He also reunited with his Monty Python co-stars in 2013 for live shows to pay an Â£800,000 legal bill after losing a royalties case. And following his divorce from third wife Alyce Eichelberger in 2008, he performed in a comedy show dubbed the Alimony Tour.
In last year's interview with Shortlist magazine, Cleese said he felt the BBC's commissioning editors had "no idea" what they were doing.
He also said he had been offered "cliched" roles by ITV.
Referring to Cleese's possible BBC sitcom return, Mr Allen told the Telegraph: "There are certain people who have earned their badges, who have got the right to do what they want."
He was speaking to the Telegraph before the first episode airs on Sunday in the BBC's "landmark sitcom series".
The series features modern remakes of Are You Being Served?, Porridge, Till Death Us Do Part,  Steptoe and Son, and Up Pompeii!
Mr Allen said it was "insulting" to suggest the BBC's new comedies were not as good as the past but added: "This is a chance to try to reclaim that and say these are titles and writers and pieces of work that are proven, and hallowed, and it's a chance to introduce them to a new generation."
A BBC spokeswoman said: "We would love to work with John Cleese. However nothing is confirmed at this stage and we do not comment on developments."


The Philippines will develop a disputed island it claims in the South China Sea as a tourist destination, the military chief has said.

Gen Gregorio Catapang made the announcement on a trip to Pagasa, one of the nine islands claimed by Manila in the Spratly archipelago.
He said a ferry service from nearby Palawan would be launched next year.
China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with its neighbours.
It has been developing some islands and reefs on a large scale - alarming others in the region - but says the work is legal and necessary for safeguarding its sovereignty.
The US Pentagon has said that while the aim of the expansion activity remains unclear, China is "improving its defence infrastructure in the South China Sea".
Pagasa - known internationally as Thitu and in China as Zhong Ye Dao - currently has about 100 people living on it and a small Philippine military detachment. There are no tourist facilities apart from its airstrip.
Gen Catapang, visiting the island on Monday, said the military would help with local government plans to develop the island for tourism, including starting a ferry service next year.
He also said they would expand the existing runway on the island and develop the fishing industry.
Eugenio Bito-onon, the mayor of the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan province - which includes Pagasa - said the tourism project would be popular.
"For the past 20 years, a lot of people have been dying to come here but cannot because of the inadequate [infrastructure]. There is no regular transportation," Mr Bito-onon said.
The ferry taking tourists from Palawan to Pagasa, a distance of about 160 km (100 miles), would pass by all the islands in the Spratly archipelago held by Manila, Gen Catapang told reporters.
"It can be a good tourism effort," he said.
"Our message to our Filipino brothers and sisters is to help Mayor Bito-onon to jumpstart his tourism for peace because... if there will be tourism, you will help the economy here," Gen Catapang said.
BBC visits China's 'island factory'
US officials say China's construction projects on and around disputed South China Sea islands has reclaimed 810 hectares (2,000 acres) of land since the beginning of 2014, and that it is expanding its programme.
The Philippines military has said the activity could be aimed at turning some of the islands into large naval and air bases.
Major Ferdinand Atos, the most senior military officer stationed on Pagasa, said the Chinese reclamation was worrying.
"We are concerned with the creeping invasion," Maj Atos said. "Two years ago they were not there, now you see them getting closer."
Gen Catapang vowed to defend Pagasa and other islands claimed by the Philippines from aggression.
"According to our constitution these are our regime of islands and we have to protect our regime of islands, in as much as they form our territory and sovereignty," Gen Catapang said.


The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea say they have "completely restored" trade and security ties, at their first meeting in three years.

They said in a statement they had agreed to resume regular trilateral meetings, not held since 2012.
They also agreed to improve their economic co-operation.
The talks in the South Korean capital, Seoul, were an attempt to ease ill-feeling fuelled by territorial disputes and historical disagreements.
China and South Korea say Japan has not done enough to atone for its troops' brutality in World War Two.
The BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul says the real significance of the talks is that they happened at all.
They were held regularly until three-and-a-half years ago, when they were called off as bad feeling towards Japan intensified.
"We shared the view that trilateral co-operation has been completely restored on the occasion of this summit," South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a joint statement, quoted by AFP.
Ms Park said the three leaders had agreed to work together to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 16-nation free trade area favoured by Beijing.
She said they maintained their goal of "denuclearising" North Korea, AFP reported.
Our correspondent says that South Korea and Japan are torn between their allegiance to the US and their need to get on economically with Beijing.
Mr Li met Ms Park on Saturday and the two agreed to try to increase trade, particularly through more Korean exports of food to China and co-operation on research into robotics.
The two leaders were joined by Mr Abe on Sunday.


The Paris agreement on climate change has come into force.

Governments have agreed to keep the global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels - and preferably 1.5 degrees.
"This is a moment to celebrate," United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa told Reuters.
"It is also a moment to look ahead with sober assessment and renewed will over the task ahead."
The Eiffel Tower in Paris is expected to be lit up in green light on Friday to mark the entry into force of the historic climate pact.
Delegates from almost 200 countries are meeting in Marrakech next week to consider the way ahead beyond Paris.
The deal agreed in the French capital less than a year ago commits governments to moving their economies away from fossil fuels.
On Thursday, a UN review of national pledges to cut carbon said they fall short of the levels needed to keep the rise in global temperatures under 2C.
The report found pledges from governments that have ratified the accord would see the world on track for a rise in temperatures by the end of this century of between 2.9 and 3.4 degrees C.
Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst
The Paris climate pact comes into force less than a year since it was agreed. The last major climate deal - the Kyoto Protocol - took eight years to come into force. Paris is the first agreement tying rich and poor nations in a common endeavour to protect the climate. However, the national targets for cutting carbon emissions are voluntary. The UN tried a mandatory approach but countries that were failing to meet their targets simply quit.
The process of the Paris deal is binding, including a commitment for governments to keep returning to the issue to ratchet up the clean energy targets that they all agree are inadequate. Governments that rushed to enshrine Paris in law have had one eye on the US elections. Hilary Clinton has pledged to take President Obama's emissions cuts further. Donald Trump wants to tear up the agreement.
Environmental groups and other experts have urged governments to do more.
World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim said even with the commitments made in Paris and encouraging action on the ground, "we will not meet our aspiration of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees unless we move faster and at the scale that is needed".
"As the world heads into (the meeting) in Marrakesh, we must regain the sense of urgency we felt a year ago," he said.
In Marrakech governments and parties will work on details of a "rulebook" which will measure and review global climate action.
What was agreed in Paris?
•         To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century
•         To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C
•         To review progress every five years
•         $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.
Donald Trump has called manmade climate change "a hoax" and said he would "cancel" the Paris Agreement and other international efforts to address the issue. He says he supports clean water and air, but wants to slash funding to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US.
Hillary Clinton backs the Paris deal, saying climate change is a threat to American security. She supports stringent regulation of the energy industry and opposes expanded drilling in Alaska, but has not made the environment a central part of her campaign.
Read Anthony Zurcher's global guide to where the presidential candidates stand on all the issues - and how they compare to world leaders.
What solutions to air pollution make sense to you that you would like us to investigate?
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Leeds moved closer to retaining their Super League status and continued their perfect record in the Qualifiers.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan went over, but Salford replied through George Griffin and went ahead with a penalty.
Salford's Gareth O'Brien was sin-binned and Kallum Watkins gave Rhinos a half-time lead, before the hosts scored 20 second-half points without reply.
James Segeyaro, Carl Ablett and Adam Cuthbertson's tries left the visitors with only one win in four Qualifiers.
Salford remain sixth, level on points with fifth-placed London Broncos as they chase a place in the Million Pound Game and a chance to return to Super League, with only three matches left to play.
Leeds: Sutcliffe; Briscoe, Watkins, Keinhorst, Hall; Moon Burrow; Galloway, Segeyaro, Singleton, Ferres, Ablett, Jones-Buchanan.
Replacements: Cuthbertson, Ward, Garbutt, Lilley.
Salford: Evalds; J Griffin, Sa'u, Jones, Vidot; O'Brien, Dobson; Burgess, Tomkins, G Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Hauraki, Flanagan.
Replacements: Kopczak, Lannon, Krasniqi, Lui.


Former Saracens centre Tim Streather has retired from rugby union on medical advice with a persistent knee injury.

Streather, 29, failed to make a Premiership appearance last term and was released at the end of the season.
He joined the club from Nottingham in 2013 and went on to make 30 appearances in all competitions.
"With the medical advice I have received, there is no other option for my long-term health and well-being," Streather said.
"I've been lucky to have enjoyed my time in the game, with Nottingham in the Championship and four amazing years at Saracens.
"I leave the game having made so many wonderful memories on and off the pitch and I've made some friends for life along the way."


Ireland were frustrated by a last-wicket stand of 48 as Namibia reached 250-9 at the close on day one of the Intercontinental Cup game in Windhoek.

The Irish had Namibia struggling on 82-5 before JP Kotze's 78 steadied the home innings.
George Dockrell brought up his 200th Irish wicket to put the Namibians in trouble again at 202-9 before Christopher Coombe's unbeaten 34.
Dockrell, Tim Murtagh and John Mooney all took two wickets.
Kevin O'Brien and Craig Young were among the early wickets as Ireland took control after losing the toss.
However, Kotze's fine innings frustrated the Irish before Coombe's late resistance along with also unbeaten Bernard Scholtz (16 no).
Namibia's fightback will give them hope of staying in contention, but Ireland will hope to build a strong lead when play resumes in Windhoek on Sunday.
A win for either side would see them move top of the table above current leaders the Netherlands.
In the potential scenario of the side winning the match after conceding a first innings lead, the Dutch will drop to third as in this situation the side that wins the match will collect 13 points while the side that claims the first-innings lead will get seven points.
In the first round of fixtures, reigning champions Ireland defeated the United Arab Emirates by an innings and 26 runs in Malahide in June, while Namibia recorded a 114-run victory over Hong Kong in May.
Captain William Porterfield and Ed Joyce are back for the Irish after being rested for the four-day tour game against Zimbabwe A.


Peterborough United gave former manager Darren Ferguson an unwelcome return to London Road as they thrashed Doncaster Rovers in League One.

Gaby Zakuani nodded Erhun Oztumer's corner home to take the lead, before Oztumer then tapped in a second.
Callum Elder found a third for Posh two minutes after the break before Conor Washington's drive secured victory.
Rovers came close to a consolation through Andy Butler but Michael Bostick cleared his header off the line.


The names of major political lobbyists in Scotland should be made public to improve transparency, the parliament's standards committee has said.

An online register would include a list of organisations which spend large amounts of cash employing people to influence MSPs.
In 2013, the Scottish government announced plans to legislate on lobbying, but no bill has yet emerged.
Ministers said they remained committed to taking the issue forward.
The cross-party standards committee recommended the register should cover "significant" lobbying activity, which would also take in organisations which have sustained contact with politicians.
They would need to provide information on meetings with MSPs, events and hospitality involving MSPs and details of what the lobbying aimed to achieve.
Healthy democracy
Committee convener Stewart Stevenson, an SNP MSP, said: "Lobbying is a legitimate, valuable and necessary part of a healthy democracy.
"But a parliament founded on openness must seek to make clear who is lobbying, on what issues, and why."
Plans for a register of lobbyists - originally suggested by Labour MSP Neil Findlay - were put forward in the wake of events at Westminster, after three peers were accused of agreeing to carry out parliamentary work for payment.
The Scottish Parliament has remained free of any serious lobbying scandal, apart from an incident in 1999 when the Observer newspaper reported that public relations firm Beattie Media touted for business by offering privileged access to Scottish ministers.
A Scottish government spokesman welcomed the committee's report, adding: "We have repeatedly said that the standards committee's inquiry into lobbying is central to determining the best way forward and we will now take the time to carefully consider its findings.
"The Scottish government remains committed to take forward the development of a Lobbying Transparency Bill."


Family Dollar, the US discount retailer, has rejected a $9.7bn (£5.8bn) bid from larger rival Dollar General.

Family Dollar said the offer could face competition issues and "did nothing to address" the matter.
The company said that it would continue to pursue a merger with a third discount chain, Dollar Tree.
Family Dollar and Dollar Tree had already agreed a merger before Dollar General launched a rival bid this week.
US dollar stores expanded fast during the economic downturn. But many have faced competition from stores such as Wal-Mart, and Family Dollar has been closing stores and struggling financially.
Howard Levine, chief executive at Family Dollar, said the board had "unanimously concluded that [a deal with Dollar General] is not reasonably likely to be completed on the terms proposed".
But Dollar General suggested Mr Levine's support of Dollar Tree was motivated by self-interest as he would have lost his job if Dollar General had won the bid.
Under Dollar Tree's proposal, Mr Levine would remain Family Dollar's boss.
The move under Dollar General would have been good for shareholders but "perhaps not for Mr Levine personally," said the spurned company.
Rick Dreiling, chief executive of Dollar General, made the comments in a letter to Family Dollar's board on Wednesday.
Many Family Dollar stores are in deprived areas. It has a big presence in Texas and the eastern US.


A Guatemalan baby has been born with microcephaly linked to the Zika virus, officials say.

The child is believed to be the first born with a Zika-linked defect in the Central American country.
The infection is suspected of causing babies to be born with underdeveloped brains and abnormally small heads if the mother has it during pregnancy.
Children with microcephaly face lifelong difficulties, including intellectual impairment.
It can be fatal. Brazil has been the centre of the current outbreak of the virus.
Everthing you need to know about Zika and microcephaly
Texas baby dies from Zika-linked defect
WATCH: The story of Brazil's Zika 'bucket baby'
Carlos Mejia, director of the infectious diseases department at Guatemala City's Hospital Roosevelt, said two other babies were undergoing tests to determine if their mothers had caught Zika while pregnant.
Zika is commonly transmitted through mosquitoes but can also be transmitted sexually.
The UN estimates says that 20% of women in Guatemala who are sexually active are not using contraception, despite being fertile and not wanting to get pregnant.
Abortion is illegal in Guatemala - it can only be performed to save a mother's life.
Sources: WHO, CDC, Florida Department of Health


Three teenagers have been cleared of all charges relating to a man who was paralysed when he fell from a bridge.

Joshua Davies, 19, was injured after falling on to rocks in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff, last year.
Kurtis Lawrence, 18, and two boys, aged 16 and 15, who cannot be named, denied throwing stones aimed at Mr Davies.
They were found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and of inflicting grievous bodily harm by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court.


Police have ended their search for missing toddler Ben Needham in Kos, saying he "most probably" died in an accident near where he vanished in 1991.

17 October 2016 Last updated at 15:51 BST
Ben, from Sheffield, was 21 months old when he disappeared on the Greek island of Kos.
An "item" believed to have been in Ben's possession at the time was found during fresh searches.
South Yorkshire Police said the current line of inquiry, that Ben was killed accidentally, was the most probable cause for the boy's disappearance.


Portsmouth loanee defender Tareiq Holmes-Dennis faces up to four months out with a knee injury.

The 21-year-old joined on a season-long loan deal from Huddersfield but was injured during Pompey's League One opener against Rochdale on Saturday.
Manager Kenny Jackett confirmed the left-back's injury on Tuesday.
"It's not good news, it looks longer-term rather than short-term, which is a blow as he had a bright pre-season for us," Jackett told BBC Radio Solent.


A senior cleric has spoken of how suspected Islamist militants "slaughtered" some 30 churchgoers in north-eastern Nigeria on Sunday.

The Bishop of Yola told the BBC the insurgents had locked the church and "cut people's throats" in Waga Chakawa village, Adamawa state.
On the same day, militants also attacked Kawuri village in neighbouring Borno state, killing 52 people.
Both assaults were blamed on the Islamist Boko Haram group.
The organisation - whose name means "Western education is forbidden" - is especially active in the north-east of the country.
Boko Haram wants to impose a severe form of Islamic law, and has been blamed for thousands of deaths.
Borno and Adamawa are two of three north-eastern states - along with Yobe - put under emergency rule last May, as the military attempts to combat the insurgency.
The Bishop of Yola, Mamza Dami Stephen, said parishioners had told him about what happened on Sunday morning.
They described how the insurgents had arrived on trucks and locked the church "towards the end of the service".
"Some people tried to escape through the windows and the [attackers] shot at them," the bishop said.
What is Nigeria's Boko Haram?
The militants set off bombs, before burning houses and taking residents hostage during a four-hour siege.
The bishop said locals were gripped by terror.
"Everybody is living in fear," he explained.
"There is no protection. We cannot predict where and when they are going to attack. People can't sleep with their eyes closed."
In neighbouring Borno, gunmen targeted a busy Sunday market in Kawuri village. After setting off bombs, they killed civilians in their homes and set ablaze dozens of houses.
Earlier this month, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan sacked his military high command.
No reason was given, but the move came amid concern that Boko Haram have been able to continue their bloody campaign despite the wide-ranging powers given to the military to tackle the insurgency last year.
Since the state of emergency was imposed in May, UN figures suggest more than 1,200 people have been killed in Islamist-related violence.


A fifth person has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man whose body was found in a flat.

The body of Indiga Daniel Wallace, known as Danny, was discovered in Fisher Street, Tipton, on 11 November.
A post mortem revealed he died as a result of head injuries.
A 30-year-old West Bromwich man was arrested on Wednesday evening on Stafford Road, Wolverhampton. Three men and a woman are on police bail while inquiries continue.


Chelsea's meeting with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge was billed as the game manager Jose Mourinho must not lose if he wanted to keep his job.

Now, after a 3-1 defeat that sent Chelsea towards the bottom of the Premier League after their sixth loss in 11 games and left Liverpool fans singing "you're getting sacked in the morning", the grim statistics and questions are piling up around Mourinho.
Not in the eyes of Mourinho himself. He was asked after the loss whether he thought this would be his final game in charge and his instant response was: "No."
While all eyes turned towards Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who always has the final word on these matters, Mourinho insisted his immediate plan was to go home "to find a sad family".
He then wanted to watch the Rugby World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand - before mapping out Sunday's training session for the midweek Champions League meeting with Dynamo Kiev at Stamford Bridge.
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Abramovich is the great unknown factor in the debate surrounding Mourinho and whether he has any future at Chelsea. The Russian oligarch has never hesitated to act in the past, but here he is dealing with a manager who brought Chelsea the title only six months ago.
And yet, there has been an unease around Mourinho since the start of the season, from the delayed return to pre-season that appears to have left his players off the pace, through the row with team doctor Eva Carneiro on the opening day of the campaign against Swansea when she angered him by going on to treat Eden Hazard, on to a run of results unprecedented in his glittering career.
Mourinho has cut a troubled, tormented figure at odds with authority once more, recently fined £50,000 by the Football Association and given a one-match suspended stadium ban after comments about officials following the 3-1 home loss to Southampton.
While those within Chelsea's boardroom may raise an eyebrow and have concerns about potential damage to the club's image - coach Silvino Louro and midfielder Nemanja Matic were also sent off at West Ham - the bottom line is results, and three defeats in a week is hardly a safety net for Mourinho as he clings to his job.
The loss to Liverpool, something that always causes Mourinho particular pain, came after that defeat at West Ham and the Capital One Cup exit on penalties against Stoke. It was by far the most damaging because these are games Mourinho has specialised in winning.
Chelsea are a results-driven club under a results-driven owner. That title win a few months ago may buy Mourinho time but no manager survives consistently poor results under Abramovich, irrespective of past record and reputation.
Mourinho can at least count on the backing of Chelsea's fans. They chanted his name loudly and at length after Christian Benteke's goal confirmed this latest loss, making it clear who they want in charge and that they still believe Mourinho is "The Special One".
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The mood at Stamford Bridge in the immediate aftermath of defeat was calm - particularly in the light of Abramovich's recent backing for the manager.
This was the first time Abramovich has ever made such a move and Chelsea's owner was 100% behind the man he brought back. It was a pledge made with real commitment.
But it was also clear results had to improve and it may yet be that the next two or three league games may be the tipping points rather than this loss.
Even then it may not be a case of Mourinho being dismissed. This is, of course, a possibility but it may even be that Abramovich could offer further backing to his manager when the transfer window opens in January.
The lack of unrest among the paying public may play in Mourinho's favour as Abramovich makes his calculations.
There is also no suggestion that the relationship between manager and owner has broken down, as it did when Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007.
Abramovich, however, has never appeared the sentimental sort and there can be no doubt this wretched, totally unforeseen sequence of bad results has put Mourinho in danger.
As Chelsea's fans filed into Fulham Broadway it was all still up for grabs.
Again this is a question that would no doubt figure in the considerations within Chelsea's boardroom as they pore over the future direction of the club.
There may be, as Liverpool are experiencing now with Jurgen Klopp, a bounce from a fresh face in the technical area - but Chelsea are currently under the command of one of the finest and most successful coaches in the world.
Would replacing Mourinho, with his proven track record of success, improve Chelsea long-term? Would it not simply be an act of panic after the first run of this kind in a great manager's career?
The difficulty Mourinho currently has to deal with is that, because of his own successes, this is a scenario with which he has never had to contend - namely providing the sort of guidance and approach that moves a team out of trouble from near the bottom of the table.
It is new territory for Mourinho but it would be an insult to his intelligence and ability to suggest this was beyond him. There is no guarantee of a meaningful, long-term uplift should they get rid of him.
Chelsea would be in danger of acting in haste and repenting at leisure.
This would be another factor very much in Mourinho's favour if Chelsea owner Abramovich is seriously contemplating a change.
Pep Guardiola has always been favoured by Abramovich but he is not going to leave Bayern Munich in mid-season and Chelsea's modus operandi, with that willingness to change managers with regularity, may not be to his liking.
The same would surely apply to Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone, a talented but hugely combustible character who might not reduce the stress levels should he take over from Mourinho. He is unlikely to leave La Liga at this stage of their season.
Carlo Ancelotti is currently available after leaving Real Madrid but would the man who brought a historic Premier League and FA Cup double to Chelsea in 2010 really want to work for the club again after being unceremoniously sacked at Goodison Park at the end of the following season, having failed to deliver silverware? Probably not.
Klopp would have been right in the frame but that ship has sailed now after he was snapped up by Liverpool following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers.
When Mourinho left in 2007, Avram Grant stepped out of the shadows to succeed him but it was regarded as the work of Chelsea's experienced players to guide them to the 2008 Champions League Final, where they lost to Manchester United on penalties.
So would Chelsea seriously consider sacking Mourinho then going down the "interim manager" route that brought them success before?
Guus Hiddink won the FA Cup in 2009 after a spell as temporary coach following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari, while Rafael Benitez won the Europa League in 2013 after replacing Roberto Di Matteo, who had won the Champions League only six months before his dismissal.
Hiddink, 68, is available now but is damaged goods after a failed spell in charge of the Netherlands. He is not likely to figure in any potential discussions.
The names of former manager Andre Villa-Boas and ex-Liverpool boss Rodgers, who worked as a youth coach at Chelsea, have also been mentioned but they cannot carry any real weight.
This surely still leaves Mourinho as the strongest option in a fight he insisted he was ready for, even after defeat by Liverpool.
New Liverpool manager Klopp described himself as "The Normal One" when asked to compare himself to "The Special One" Mourinho on the day of his appointment.
The problem for Mourinho is that defeats like this are now becoming normal - and they must improve.
While Klopp was a blur of animated activity in the technical area throughout Saturday's game, Mourinho cut a subdued figure, only bursting into life at perceived injustices.
Mourinho gave fourth official Lee Mason a quizzical glance and a few words when Klopp confronted him face-to-face on several occasions, clearly questioning what would happen if he behaved in a similar manner.
He was also visibly infuriated, with great justification, when Liverpool's Lucas escaped a second yellow card for a blatant trip on Ramires having already been booked.
As Klopp high-fived his backroom staff after Benteke made it 3-1, there was almost an air of desperation about Mourinho as he clapped his hands in an attempt to galvanise his beaten players - but like a hapless driver trying to start a car with a flat battery.
He then stood with his hands in his pockets as the formalities of defeat were played out.
Mourinho side-stepped a series of questions about his future in his immediate after-match interview - but showed small flashes of the old defiance in a later briefing, insisting he will fight on and he does not expect to lose his job.
As history tells us, that is a matter for Roman Abramovich.


The recent high-profile spat with the US over the Hollywood film "The Interview" painted North Korea's enigmatic young leader Kim Jong-un as impetuous.

The film told the story of a fictional plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un. Hackers broke into film company Sony's computers, and weeks later threatened to target any cinema which screened the film.
An FBI investigation concluded that North Korea was to blame for the cyber attack. North Korea responded angrily, with Kim Jong-un calling President Obama a "monkey".
What do we know about his ambitions? Four insiders offer their insight into what Kim Jong-un wants.
Jean Lee was born in America to South Korean parents and grew up hearing stories about Korean families separated by the war in 1953. A few years ago, she became the first foreign journalist to open a bureau inside North Korea.
She was in the crowd when Kim Jong-un was first introduced to the Korean people at a military parade, and says he has had to work hard to establish his own power base.
"When he came out there was just a complete sense of shock and awe among the people at the plaza. They had never seen a picture of him. They had only really known of his existence, officially, a few weeks earlier.
"It was quite a shock to see somebody so young who was being groomed to be the next leader. He was not the oldest son, so wasn't the obvious shoo-in. There's clearly something about him, ambition, perhaps a kind of ruthlessness, some qualities that his father saw in him that he thought would carry this country into the next generation."
The world saw that ruthlessness a year ago, when he ordered the execution of his uncle for allegedly trying to overthrow the state. And the regime is known to use violence to quash dissent among ordinary people too.
But Jean Lee says it would be a mistake to think Kim Jong-un maintains control only through fear:
"One of the things that I've seen on the ground over the past couple of years is all the construction of these skating rinks. There's actually a skateboard park, the ski resort of course that opened last year, massive projects. I see all of this as an investment that they're making in their future.  He is a young man.  If he is going to win the support of the future generations of North Koreans who are going to be his power base, he's got to find a way to win their loyalty and this is part of that."
Geoffrey See is a Singaporean who has been travelling back and forth to North Korea for the past seven years, working with young entrepreneurs. He says North Koreans are now thinking more innovatively about the economy:
"About six years ago when we first started our programme, our counterparts would often start off with a very long spiel about socialism and how this is the system they have and they are never going to change it.
"In recent years instead of saying that, people talk about... trying to bring in what's best from overseas, and try to adjust it to fit into the system.  So I think that's a very interesting change in terms of thinking."
Where this new investment is being targeted is also interesting.
"If you look at the economic zones that North Korea was investing in, one of the key areas is Wonsan. So this is an economic zone on the east coast of North Korea.  It faces Japan and it borders South Korea.  So it is kind of almost the furthest location you can have from China. So we believe that it's part of this broader aim to balance off Chinese economic influence in North Korea."
Kim Jong-un has also been making overtures to Russian President Putin. Two years ago, Russia wrote off 90% of North Korea's debt. But Geoffrey See says there aren't many foreign investors willing to engage with the country's idiosyncratic business environment:
"We would email the North Koreans two, three, four times and we [wouldn't] get a response, and we used to get very worried about it.  We wondered if they are reading our messages, if things are moving ahead.
"We would go in like three months later from the first set of emails.  When we meet with them we ask them, 'Did you receive our emails?' The response is always like, 'Oh, you are coming in three months' time, we didn't feel the need to send a response because we can just chat when you're back in here'."
Kim Myong Chol was born and lives in Japan, but is ethnically Korean.
He has been to North Korea more than 20 times in the last 40 years, and says he has met representatives of the country's elite as well as, in his words, the two Kims - Kim Jong-un's father and grandfather. He hasn't met the third Kim yet, but praises his "guts, determination and intelligence".
The Inquiry: What does Kim Jung-un Want? was broadcast on the BBC World Service on Tuesday 27 January 2015.
Listen to the programme
Download the programme
Some describe Kim Myong Chol as an unofficial spokesman for the leader.
"What makes him different from the two Kims," he argues, "is that he will succeed in getting what he wants. The reunification of Korea, without foreign interference.  Eventually the US will leave Korea and the Korean peninsula will be re-unified.
"[The US will] realise the futility, the senselessness of American military presence in Korea. North Korea [will] become too strong for America. We have now nuclear weapons, we have intercontinental ballistic missiles, we have hydrogen bomb.
"We are victims of American aggression. North Korea is a most sanctioned country. Brutalised, criminalised, isolated by America."
He insists Kim Jong-un's unpredictable behaviour is part of his strategy to fight back:
"North Korea is a very small country. The USA is a big country with nuclear weapons.  How to defeat the enemy? Outsmart them. That's the only way North Korea can survive, outsmart America."
Yanmei Xie is senior China analyst for the International Crisis Group in Beijing.
She argues that Kim Jong-un can do little without China's support.
"North Korea relies on China for survival. If China cut the fuel supply across the Yarlu River which is between North Korea and China, then the regime... will collapse in a matter of weeks. So Beijing plays a very crucial and vital role in the Korean Peninsula."
And when North Korea does something that China doesn't like, its punishment is swift and exact:
"When there were reports and intelligence saying North Korea could be on the brink of a fourth nuclear test, China slowed down fuel supply and food aid.
"But before it did that, China looked into the fuel supply and harvest of grain and calculated the amount of reduction in order to make sure that the reduction would not cause instability. [This] was meant to send a signal of displeasure but not to destabilise the regime or cause real pain."
This is because China also needs its neighbour: North Korea stands between China and the 28,000 US soldiers stationed in South Korea.
"North Korea used to be a military buffer for China in terms of heading off any potential advance of US armies. Now in the age of naval and air dominance of United States, a land war is not as important, but North Korea remains a political buffer in that it is a buffer between China and South Korea, which remains a US ally.
"So China shares interest of managing Kim Jong-un. But I think sometimes people confuse that with signs that China is ready to abandon the Kim Jong-un regime. But actually it's the opposite. China is... stabilising the regime... to prolong, to preserve the current status quo."
The Inquiry: What does Kim Jung-un Want? was broadcast on the BBC World Service on Tuesday 27 January, 2015.
Listen online or download the podcast.


As Wales prepares to remember the battle of Mametz Wood, BBC Wales's Roger Pinney considers the story of one soldier killed on the first day.

His name was Fred. But it could have been Tom, Dick, Harri or Dai. Fred Rowlands' story has so much in common with so many other stories of men from all corners of Wales.
He was born in Welshpool, but moved to the south Wales valleys when coal was king and jobs plentiful.
By the time war broke out in 1914, Fred Rowlands was a timberman working underground at the International Colliery in Blaengarw.
Within a month he had signed up.
It is not known why. Patriotism perhaps, coupled with the excitement of the time?
Fred was one of the thousands of miners, ironworkers, farmhands and shopboys who flocked to the colours.
He was one of the thousands who never came home.
"I don't like to think about it," says Louvain Rees, Fred Rowlands' great-great-grand-daughter.
"His daughter wouldn't have even been one year old when he went. It would have been the last time he saw her."
We met outside the home in Pontycymmer near Bridgend which Fred left to go to war.
"It is sad to think that my great-great-grandmother would have been on her own there with her daughter waiting to hear from her husband that never came back," she said.
Fred Rowlands enlisted at Porthcawl in the Cardiff City Battalion of the Welch Regiment.
Initial training was done at Colwyn Bay. In April 1915 the battalion was combined into the new 38th (Welsh) Division, created by David Lloyd George, then the Minister of Munitions, as a force made up of regiments and battalions from across Wales.
By December 1915 they had landed in France to reinforce an army which had already lost more than 180,000 men and had many times that wounded.
In June 1916 the division, including the newly promoted Sergeant Fred Rowlands, was in a place most of the men had probably never heard of.
It was pretty place of rolling chalk down land, with a meandering shallow river running through it.
The river is called the Somme.
Within a month this place had become the bloodiest of battlefields.
"From the war diary the extracts that we have it was an awful day. It was raining," says Ms Rees.
The day she is talking about was July 7th 1916. The Battle of the Somme was a week old, and it was the day the 38th (Welsh) Division was ordered into battle.
Their orders were to take an objective called Mametz Wood.
Fred Rowlands' battalion - the City of Cardiff, along with the 1st Gwent Battalion from the South Wales Borderers, was to lead the attack. They were caught in murderous cross-fire.
An officer with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Captain Wyn Griffiths, described what he saw: "Along the bare ridge rising up to Mametz Wood our men were burrowing into the ground with their entrenching tools, seeking whatever cover they might make. A few shells were falling, surprisingly few.
"Wounded men were crawling back from the ridge, men were crawling forward with ammunition. No attack could succeed over ground such as this, swept from front and side by machine guns at short range."
And in the middle of it all, the platoon led by Sergeant Fred Rowlands. "He would have been leading the men over. Possibly to their death. Which is not a nice thing to think about," Ms Rees says.
Three times that day they attacked. Three times they were repelled. Among the dead, Sergeant Fred Rowlands, the miner from Pontycymmer.
"So many people died in it. And it wasn't just him. Hundreds of families were torn apart by that one day. My great-grandmother was left with a two-year-old child on her own. That's her whole family was torn apart," says Fred Rowlands' great-great grand-daughter.
On that one day the City of Cardiff Battalion was to suffer more than four hundred casualties.
The 38th (Welsh) Division was ordered to attack again the next day and the next. It took five days to capture most of Mametz Wood. Five days which cost around 4,000 killed, missing and wounded. Cities, towns and villages throughout Wales were cast into mourning.
Louvain Rees has few mementos of her ancestor.
A faded group photograph which shows a big man with a moustache. His "dead man's penny", a plaque presented by the government to the families of all those who died in the First World War.
"My grandmother never talked about him because they didn't know him," she says.
"What we know about him is what his widow has told my grandmother. All things like he was a good singer. He was in the colliery choir. And he liked to play pranks. He was mischievous."
"My grandmother remembers that when she was young she used to sneak into this drawer and there were all letters from France in embroidered envelopes and she used to read them, but everything was sold."
Fred Rowlands is buried yards from where he fell in the Flat Iron Copse War Cemetery at the edge of Mametz Wood.
On a ridge close by is the Welsh Memorial. A dragon looks out across a valley where there was so much Welsh sacrifice.


The town of Shakhty is less than an hour's drive from Russia's border with Ukraine.

The name means "mines" - a reference to the coalmines that once employed so many, but have now shut.
On the edge of town is a tiny, crumbling Soviet-era museum about the history of the coal industry and the glorious miners of the River Don.
Today, the museum has been turned into an aid centre. Inside there are volunteers packing clothes, food and medicines for people fleeing the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Local Cossacks are co-ordinating the relief effort.
A deputy Cossack commander called Andrei draws my attention to an old map of Rostov region and eastern Ukraine up on the wall. It dates back more than a century.
"This all used to be our land, the land of the Don Cossacks," Andrei tells me, pointing to Ukraine's Luhansk region. "This is our common history, it's our people. That's why we're helping."
It's not just the Cossacks who've been remembering the past.
Russian politicians - including the president - have been publicly stating that what is now south-east Ukraine was, under the Tsars, a Russian region called Novorossiya.
It helps explain why some Russians have been providing more than just humanitarian aid to those across the border.
About 80km (50 miles) from Shakhty, in the Russian city of Rostov, I talk to Yuri.
A long green mask and dark glasses hide his face. He's agreed to this midnight meeting to tell me about his group's activities.
Via the internet, Yuri has been recruiting Russians to fight in Ukraine on the side of separatist rebels. He says it's to protect the people of Novorossiya.
On its website, the group recently advertised for tank drivers, helicopter pilots and for people who know how to operate rocket launchers.
Kiev has identified this organisation and its website as one of the main recruiting grounds for Russian fighters in Ukraine.
"There is a saying," Yuri tells me. "You can't do good without using your fists. Sometimes it's necessary to take up arms to protect those who need defending. We call it 'armed charity'."
The group says it was their volunteers who led the attack on Donetsk airport last month.
During the fierce battle, the insurgents suffered heavy losses. Later more than 30 bodies were repatriated to Russia.
"Different categories of people become volunteers," Yuri explains.
"They can be young people or much older. During the battle for Donetsk airport, one of the volunteers was 56 years old. He showed everyone how it should be done. The country can be proud of people like this.
"Some of the volunteers are quite well off, they've giving up the good life to do this. Others have nothing to lose."
Yuri denies that the Russian government backs the volunteers, or that they receive weapons from the Russian army.
How, then, does he explain reports of separatist fighters riding Russian tanks?
"Russian tanks are like Kalashnikov rifles, you can find them all over the place even as far away as Thailand," Yuri says. "They're very popular for armed conflicts. Yes, they're made in Russia. But who knows how they got there?"
Moscow has repeatedly denied sending troops or military hardware across the border.
But Western governments maintain that among the fighters in eastern Ukraine are professionals funded, equipped and supported by Moscow.
What's more, in recent days Nato and Washington have accused Moscow of massing troops on the border.
"Unfortunately, there is mounting evidence that shows a build-up of Russian military forces near the border with Ukraine," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday.
"Contrary to the statements by Kremlin officials we do not see any evidence that the Russian military units arriving to the region are connected to any type of border security missionâ€¦. We will not accept any use of Russian military forces under any pretext in eastern Ukraine."
It's not only Russian volunteers who have taken up arms.
At a hostel near Rostov I meet a group of Ukrainian citizens, who've fled the violence.
Most of the people here claim to have male family members who've stayed behind in eastern Ukraine to become militants. They blame Ukrainian government forces for the deaths of civilians.
Robert tells me about his son who has become a rebel in their home town of Luhansk.
"I hope my son kills 2,000 of those Kiev bandits," Robert says. "If he does, I'll build a statue to him. He'll be my hero."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko believes his peace plan can end the fighting. But that won't be easy.
This conflict has opened a Pandora's box of nationalist sentiment and hatred which may now be difficult to control.


Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said his country will conduct search and rescue missions for Rohingya migrant boats in the Andaman Sea.

Humanitarian aid would also be delivered by land and sea, he said.
His announcement comes after weeks of authorities rejecting migrant boats and towing them out of Malaysian waters.
Malaysia and Indonesia's foreign ministers are in Myanmar for talks on the migrant crisis. About 7,000 people are believed to be stranded at sea.
Most of the migrants are Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar, but some are Bangladeshis thought to be economic migrants.
Malaysia and Indonesia have said they will temporarily shelter those that land on their territory, but need the international community's help with resettling them. Thailand says it will no longer push back boat people from its territorial waters.
Mr Najib said on his Twitter account that it was "basic human compassion" to provide aid to the hungry and sick. He added that search and rescue by the country's naval and maritime authorities was needed to "prevent loss of life".
Malaysia was among several states in the region that had previously refused to take in the migrants and been towing the boats to other countries' waters, in what observers condemned as a deadly "ping-pong" match.
Malaysia's foreign minister Anifah Aman and Indonesia's Retno Marsudi are holding talks with Myanmar counterpart U Wunna Maung Lwin in the Burmese capital Nay Pyi Taw. The US deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken is also due to meet Burmese officials.
Thursday's meeting is seen by some as a breakthrough, as Myanmar has denied responsibility for the crisis  and did not attend a meeting of regional foreign ministers on Wednesday, where the deal to provide temporary shelter and no longer turn back boats was reached.
"We are not ignoring the migrant problem, but... we will not accept the allegations by some that Myanmar is the source of the problem," Zaw Htay, director of Myanmar's presidential office, told AP news agency on Saturday.
The perilous journey of a migrant boat that made it
The Indonesian villagers saving migrants
Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director Richard Bennett said Wednesday's decision to provide shelter helped those who have come ashore, but "does nothing for the thousands still adrift at sea, with diminishing supplies of food and water, or for any more who may follow them".
Thailand has said it will stop towing boats back to sea, something Malaysian and Indonesian navies have also been doing in recent days, but did not sign the agreement to provide shelter, saying it is already struggling to cope with tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar.
"If we try to please these people [migrants] out of compassion, we might perhaps satisfy them in the near time, but over time this will create more havoc to the country," says an opinion piece on the Malay Mail newspaper website.
Rights activist Marina Mahathir disagrees.
"The Rohingya problem is not going to go away just because we refuse to help them. Saying that they will keep coming if we feed and shelter them is being simplistic," she writes in the Malaysian tabloid The Star.
Most agree, however, that there is no simple solution to the crisis.
"The Rohingya refugee problem, just like the European boat people crisis, is complex and cannot be easily solved by pointing fingers of blame. There is no simple answer, no single quick-fix," suggests the Thai newspaper The Nation.
More than 3,000 have been rescued by locals or come ashore in Indonesia and Malaysia in recent days.
Malaysia and Indonesia have appealed for help from other nations to resettle the migrants within a year.
Myanmar (also known as Burma) sees the Rohingya as migrants from Bangladesh, though many generations have lived there. It restricts their movements and personal lives, and Rohingya have faced persecution from the majority Buddhist population.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher, who is in Sittwe province where many of the migrants are believed to have come from, says unless the root cause is addressed the migration problem will continue.
Why are so many Rohingya stranded at sea?
Myanmar's unwanted people


Britain's Andy Murray says he needs to continue to improve if he is to remain world number one.

The 29-year-old Wimbledon champion replaced Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings at the end of 2016.
Murray returns to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open in Melbourne next week, where he has been runner-up on five occasions.
"The reality is, in sport, that things obviously keep moving on, the game will get better," the Scot said.
"I'll obviously get older, the young guys will continue to improve, and also Novak, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafa Nadal and all the guys at the top are still going to be wanting to get there.
"I need to continue to improve. I for sure need to keep working hard.''
Murray's first-round match against unseeded Ukrainain Illya Marchenko is scheduled third on Monday on Rod Laver Arena, following Simona Halep v Shelby Rogers and Kateryna Kozlova v Venus Williams.
Play begins at 00:00 GMT.
Murray's successful 2016 - in which he also became Wimbledon champion for the second time and defended his Olympic title - ended with him being awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year Honours list.
But he says he has not been treated any differently by his fellow competitors.
"It kind of happened for me right at the end of the year, so I haven't been on the Tour much as the number one player," said Murray.
"So I haven't noticed it yet. I don't know if that will come over time, if I'm able to stay there or not."
Murray was also asked about Michael Downey's resignation as chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association after only three years in the role.
He said it was "disappointing" and another example of short-term thinking at the top of British tennis.
"I think for a system that - maybe everyone would say - has not really worked for quite a long time, for change to happen you need someone, or a team, in there that's going to be in it for the long haul and not just a few years," he added.
Despite winning 17 Grand Slam titles, including four in Australia, Roger Federer said he was "clearly an underdog" in Melbourne.
"Yeah, why not for a change? I mean, I prefer to be the favourite. Underdog is OK," said Federer, who could meet Murray in the quarter-finals should they both progress.
The 35-year-old, who is returning from a six-month knee injury lay-off, is seeded 17th and will play veteran Austrian Jurgen Melzer, 35, who came through qualifying.
Federer v Melzer is the final match of day one on Rod Laver Arena.
Second seed Djokovic starts the defence of his Australian Open title against former world number seven Fernando Verdasco of Spain, but will do so without the guidance of former coach Boris Becker, with whom he split late last year.
Djokovic, 29, would not be drawn on comments made by the German, in which he said the Serb had dropped his intensity in training which had contributed to a loss of form.
"We've had amazing success. It's all I can say. I don't want to go back and comment on anything," said Djokovic, who is looking for record seventh Australian Open crown.
"I kept a very friendly relationship with Boris. We just went separate ways."


Young women are the highest risk group in England for mental health problems, according to new data from NHS Digital.

One in five women reported a common mental disorder such as anxiety and depression in 2014, compared with one in eight men, according to the study of mental health and wellbeing.
Young women also have high rates of self-harm, and post-traumatic stress and bipolar disorders.
Mental health charities said the figures showed "nothing had improved".
Hugh Pym: Mental health survey reveals pressure on young
One in six adults in England has a common mental disorder (CMD), according to the survey.
The National Study of Health and Wellbeing has been carried out every seven years since 1993. This latest report is based on research on 7,500 members of the public - just over 300 of them were women aged 16-24.
The 2014 data showed the gender gap in mental illness had become most pronounced in young people, and had increased since the first survey.
In 1993, 19% of 16-to-24-year-old women surveyed reported symptoms of CMD compared with 8% of men of the same age.
In a snapshot, 26% of women aged 16-24 reported symptoms of common mental disorders in one week, compared to 9% of men in the same age group.
More women in every age group reported symptoms in one week compared with men of the same age.
Rethink Mental Illness advice line 0300 5000 927 (Monday to Friday 09:30-16:00; local rate)
Mind Infoline 0300 123 3393 (Monday to Friday 09:00-18:00; local rate)
Samaritans 116 123 (Open 24/7; free)
In 2014, women aged 16-24 were three times as likely to report symptoms of anxiety and depression as than men - 26% compared to 9%.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was seen in 12.6% of women of that age compared with 3.6% of men.
CMD rates have steadily increased in women and remained largely stable in men, since the last survey in 2007.
Women were also more likely than men to report severe symptoms - 10% of women compared with 6% of men.
The proportion of the population reporting self-harming was 6%, up from 4% in 2007 and 2% in 2000. Researchers suggest this could be due to increased reporting.
In 2014, one in five 16-to-24-year-old women (25.7%) reported having self-harmed at some point.
That is about twice the rate for men in this age group (9.7%) and women aged 25-34 (13.2%).
The report's authors say this is the first cohort to come of age in the context of social media, and call for more research about its impact.
26%
of young women (16-24) reported a common mental health disorder (9% of young men)
26% of young women have self-harmed (10% of young men)
13% of young women screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (4% of young men)
4% of young women screened positive for bipolar disorder (3% of young men)
One in three adults with anxiety or depression was accessing mental health treatment in 2014, up from one in four in 2007.
The study found medication was the most common form of treatment for all conditions, being taken by 10% of those interviewed, with 3% receiving psychological therapy.
The data showed people who were white British, female, or aged 35 to 54 were more likely to receive treatment.
Sarah Mitchell was 23 when she suffered a breakdown while working as a recruitment consultant.
Up until then she says she was known as "happy Sarah", a person who would always be smiling and baking cakes, until one day the "facade shattered".
With hindsight, Sarah said she had probably experienced depression as a teenager and had not properly come to terms with the death of her grandmother, whom she was close to.
Sarah said she had been used to bottling up her feelings before she experienced the breakdown - something she described as a "completely surreal experience".
"I got to work and checked my computer and then my chest started heaving. I thought there was something physically wrong - I thought I had heart problems," she said.
A colleague told Sarah to go the doctor, where she was diagnosed as having suffered a panic attack. She was later diagnosed with depression and then bipolar disorder.
Sarah, from Essex, was off sick from work with depression for six months but in the end decided not to return and instead focused on getting better.
After a period of volunteering, Sarah pursued her interest of writing to become a freelance copywriter.
Now 30, Sarah does mindfulness meditation and focuses on eating well and exercising to keep herself mentally healthy.
"It's not a failure to be struggling. Everyone has different breaking points."
Stephen Buckley, head of information at the mental health charity Mind, said: "Young people are coming of working age in times of economic uncertainty. They're more likely to experience issues associated with debt, unemployment and poverty, and they are up against increasing social and environmental pressures, all of which affect well-being.
He said there had been a "surge" in the use of social media since the last survey in 2009.
"It can help people feel less isolated, particularly those who struggle to make and maintain relationships or who find it difficult to leave their homes.
"But it also comes with some risks. Its instantaneous and anonymous nature means it's easy for people to make hasty and sometimes ill-advised comments that can negatively affect other people's mental health."
Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said the report painted a "disturbing picture".
"Perhaps the most shocking finding is the escalation in both the extent and severity of self-harm, particularly amongst young women. At Sane, the number of calls from people who are self-harming or experiencing suicidal thoughts has almost trebled in the last 10 years."
Elizabeth Scowcroft from The Samaritans said the rise in people feeling suicidal, attempting to take their own life and self-harming was "alarming".
"The fact that half of adults who attempted suicide did not reach out for help afterwards is particularly concerning.
"The increase in self-harm is worrying because it's the biggest indicator that someone may go on to take their own life. It is critical that we learn more about the links between self-harm and suicide and that anyone who self-harms can receive the support they need."
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We want to make sure that everyone, regardless of gender, age or background, gets the mental health treatment they need."
Mikaela Korth, 20, is doing an apprenticeship in business administration and working in a bar in her spare time, which she says adds up to 50 hours a week.
She said in the past year her anxiety had grown to the point where the "smallest things" - such as waiting in a queue - could trigger strong feelings of anxiety and even panic attacks.
Her GP diagnosed her as suffering from anxiety about three weeks ago, but she says she has been told it could take up to 18 weeks to receive the cognitive behavioural therapy treatment her GP had prescribed her.
Mikaela, from Rotherham, said she felt there were not enough doctors and the minimum wage needed to be increased.
"I don't get much money and the cost of food and other things keeps going up. It is a constant struggle."


The BBC has been running a series about inspiring women across Africa, and followers of BBC Africa's Facebook and Twitter pages have nominated their local heroines.

Here is a selection of 10 nominees:
Brenda Iyoha nominated Inkosi Kachindamoto, who is a chief in the district of Dedza in Malawi. She annulled 330 child marriages last year, sending the children back to school.
"This is a bold step and a statement of intent in the fight to end child marriages," said Ms Iyoha.
Chi Yvonne nominated Marie-Claire Nabila Kuja, saying the Cameroonian campaigner "is on an unquenchable quest to ignite change in the lives of women and youths in Africa and beyond".
"Her KujaPads initiative has gone a long way to improve the menstrual hygiene of thousands of girls in Cameroon."
According to Ms Kuja, more than 80% of female students in the North West region of Cameroon have limited access to sanitary pads.
Larry Swatuk nominated Louise Vale, executive director of the Association of Independent Publishers in South Africa, because she is a "lifelong rescuer of NGOs and communities in crisis".
As an English teacher in the 1970s and 1980s, Ms Vale campaigned against the apartheid regime. She later helped open up access to education for disadvantaged youths and adults through various governmental and non-governmental organisations, and last year was appointed by President Jacob Zuma to the board of the Media Development and Diversity Agency.
Udk Kalimalwanyo nominated Charity Salima, a community nurse in Malawi, because she "has volunteered for years to help women in maternal health through her community clinic Achikondi in Area 23, Lilongwe.
"She is my unsung hero."
Ms Salima founded her clinic in the impoverished district in 2008, offering affordable pre- and post-natal care, and has since delivered thousands of babies.
Imani Amrani nominated Chesang Domtila, because she "worked wonders at the End FGM Academy - she made it happen and was an inspiration to all".
A Kenyan anti-FGM activist, Ms Domtila was born into a community that practises female genital mutilation but managed to escape.
"I have campaigned since I was 13 - I am now 26 - and I can say together with my team and other Kenyan activists, we have achieved a lot. I helped found an anti-FGM community-based organisation and currently work with the Guardian Global Media Campaign against FGM," she told the BBC.
Brenda Iyoha nominated Mary Mangwiza for "tirelessly supporting orphans of HIV/Aids in Malawi".
"With very few resources, she offers love and the chance of a meal and early education for children who would otherwise not get any," she says.
Mother Mary's Children Centre looks after more than 900 orphans and other vulnerable children, particularly in the districts of Zomba and Chikwawa.
International charity Sightsavers nominated one of their own volunteers in Cameroon, Evodia Njah, who delivers treatment for those at risk of river blindness.
A widow with five children, she takes a census of her village between June and August and the information is used to allocate treatments. She then begins the job of overcoming people's suspicions, convincing them take medicine to stop itchiness and eye problems.
"I get up very early in the morning and distribute between 6am-12pm, then from 6-8pm - this way you can make sure people are at home. I distribute every day for two weeks, to 20 households in my village. If people are not in, I go to other households, then I keep going back until I find them."
Sarah Carpin nominated Josephine Agutu, a gold miner from Uganda, for "empowering women through Fairtrade gold" - an ethical jewellery certification system to get fairer wages for alluvial miners.
Ms Agutu began working in mines at the age of 12 and now, as part of the Tiira Small-Scale Miners Association, she participates in a pilot Fairtrade project to prevent child labour and warn women about the dangers of using mercury to extract gold.
US-based charity Etisah Foundation nominated Josephine Ngale, a retired police inspector from Limbe in Cameroon, who in 2007 set up the Save The Children Alliance Orphanage in the same area, which currently supports around 50 children.
Ms Ngale is also a UN peacekeeper who focuses on gender-based violence. Previously stationed in Sudan's Darfur region, she is currently based in the main Ivorian city of Abidjan.
Commenting on her nomination, she told the BBC: "Thank you for nominating me, it makes me proud to be a strong African woman."
Josiah Mugo Mosby nominated Tegla Loroupe because she "won marathons for Kenya, now she runs for peace in her Pokot community", where cattle rustling and revenge killings are common.
A three-time world half-marathon champion and two-time world marathon champion, Ms Loroupe established the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation in 2003 to bring peace and unification through sports.
Read more stories about the Women of Africa as a second series starts, featuring female entrepreneurs.


The far-right National Front (FN) of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen may have defrauded the European Parliament of about €5m (£4m; $5.4m), EU sources say.

It is more than twice the sum initially estimated in an inquiry into FN staff.
The parliament suspects the money went to FN assistants who were not really working for MEPs, but were engaged in FN party work in France.
The allegations - denied by the FN - have now gone to French investigators.
Ms Le Pen is campaigning for the second-round vote in the presidential election on 7 May. Her rival, liberal centrist Emmanuel Macron, is ahead of her in opinion polls.
The alleged fraudulent payments - from 2012 onwards - concern her and several other FN MEPs. The FN is highly critical of the EU, rejecting its liberal, free market agenda.
Ms Le Pen says she is the victim of a politically motivated vendetta.
What makes Marine Le Pen far right?
In depth: Le Pen and rise of National Front
The European Parliament is currently withholding half of Ms Le Pen's salary and expenses, as it tries to recoup money it says she owes.
Currently the FN has 24 MEPs, France's biggest contingent.
Ms Le Pen has refused to answer a summons over the affair in France, citing her immunity as an MEP.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says most voters drawn to the FN are already highly suspicious of the EU, and may not see the alleged fraud as a particularly serious matter.
On Tuesday Ms Le Pen stepped aside as FN leader, saying she needed to be above partisan considerations in the presidential election.
The FN's new temporary leader is Jean-François Jalkh, and he has immediately been caught in a row over a 2000 interview, in which he is quoted as doubting the Nazis' use of Zyklon B cyanide gas to murder Jews and other victims in the death camps.
"I consider it technically impossible - I repeat, impossible - to use it... in mass murder. Why? Because you have to wait several days before you can decontaminate a place where Zyklon B was used," Le Monde quoted him as saying.
When Le Monde asked him about the remark he called it "utter rubbish" and said he had "no recollection of that [interview]".
A year ago the FN's founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was fined €30,000 (£25,278; $32,600) for calling the Nazi gas chambers a "detail" of World War Two.
He was convicted of contesting crimes against humanity. He got the same conviction in 2012 for calling the Nazi occupation of France "not particularly inhumane".
Marine, his daughter, drew strong criticism on 9 April when she suggested France was not responsible for a 1942 wartime round-up of 13,000 Jews, who were sent from France to Nazi death camps.


At least nine people have been killed in an explosion at a fireworks factory in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, police say.

Five others were injured in Monday evening's blast at the Eagle Fireworks factory in Sangli district.
It was not immediately clear how the fire started.
Accidental explosions are common at Indian fireworks factories, which provide fireworks for weddings, festivals and other ceremonies.
In 2012, 34 people were killed and 30 others injured in a massive blaze at a fireworks factory in the southern Tamil Nadu state.
The BBC Hindi's Devidas Deshpande in Pune says that the latest explosion in Kavathe Ekand village was so powerful that it was heard at least five kilometres away, and the debris of the factory was scattered far and wide.
The mother and the son of the factory owner were among the dead, while his brother and three workers were seriously injured.
The village has many households making firecrackers for local religious festivals and such incidents have been reported before.
Some 25 people have been killed in at least six such incidents in the village in the past few years, our correspondent says.


Toulon flanker Steffon Armitage has questioned England's decision not to select Maro Itoje and Elliot Daly in the matchday squad to face Scotland.

Armitage said not picking the uncapped pair for the Six Nations opener sent the wrong message to young players.
Saracens lock Itoje, 21, and centre Daly, 23, will travel to Edinburgh as reserves for the 23-man squad.
The in-form pair will be "wondering what they have to do to get in", Armitage told 888Sport.com.
Itoje is widely regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in the Premiership and may feature in the matchday squad if Courtney Lawes does not recover from a hamstring injury.
Armitage, ineligible for selection as he is based overseas, described Wasps outside-centre Daly as "one of the stars" of European rugby this season.
Paul Hill, Jack Clifford and Ollie Devoto could make their debuts from the replacements' bench in the Calcutta Cup match, but Eddie Jones' first squad largely contains players who featured in last autumn's World Cup.
"I'll back England but I'm disappointed not to see a few faces in the team for the first game," added the 30-year-old.
"Not to see them in the group, I don't know what kind of message it's sending.
"You have to put these players in when it's their time and I feel with Itoje that he's got there. He's doing it week in, week out for Saracens.
"Sometimes it's best to throw them into the deep end because otherwise when are you going to do it? This is the perfect time to do it."
Earlier this week, new coach Jones said both Itoje and Daly would play in the Six Nations "at some stage".
"I've got to pick the right opportunity for them to play. Their time will come," said the Australian, who succeeded Stuart Lancaster after England failed to progress beyond the World Cup group stages.


Unbeaten Donegal fighter Jason Quigley clinched the North American Boxing Federation middleweight title to earn his 13th straight win.

Quigley earned a unanimous points win over Glen Tapia after a tough contest in California.
The Ballybofey man, a silver medallist at the world amateur championships in 2013, earned a 100-90, 99-91, 98-92 verdict in Indio.
However, he was given a tough test by former world title contender Tapia, 27.
Quigley was well on top in the opening two rounds as he wobbled the American before Tapia started to produce good work of his own midway through the contest.
Tapia landed a big uppercut on the Irishman in the fifth round but Quigley regained control in the closing rounds to take a dominant win on the judges' cards.
The Donegal fighter, whose career is being steered by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, is currently ranked 10th by the World Boxing Association.


Kris Doolan scored twice as Partick Thistle fought back from behind to beat Ross County at Firhill.

County's Marcus Fraser headed off the crossbar before Craig Curran gave the visitors the lead with a curled a left-foot shot.
But Doolan rifled in an equaliser with a powerful shot, his 100th goal for Partick Thistle.
And he added to that tally when he slipped between two defenders and fired past goalkeeper Scott Fox.
Thistle had been in fine form before the recent international break, their unbeaten league run extending to five games.
But aside from a couple of slick passing moves, their play was sluggish in the first period, with Chris Erskine typifying that.
Erskine is frequently Thistle's classiest operator but he was off the boil against County, as his passes too often ran astray, though he was unfortunate to see his best effort well saved by Fox.
As fate would have it, no sooner had he been substituted than Doolan swivelled on the edge of the box to lash in his 100th goal for the club.
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If Erskine is generally Thistle's creator-in-chief, no-one has proved a more reliable goal-getter than the industrious Doolan.
With Thistle now very much in the ascendancy, Liam Lindsay - also good for a goal - was denied twice in quick succession, firstly by Fox and then a brave block as the home side looked for the winner.
When it did materialise, it was little surprise that Doolan again provided the clinical finish.
A delightful one-two on the edge of the box with Adam Barton put the striker in on goal and he showed terrific poise to fire past Fox for the second time.
Jim McIntyre, in the County dugout, must have wondered how his side had allowed their stranglehold on the game to slip away.
Although their record coming into the game was wretched - just one win in eight - they enjoyed marginally the better of a poor first half.
They might have taken the lead on the stroke of half-time but Fraser, having made a marauding run up field from centre-back, ultimately headed against the crossbar.
They were good value for the opening goal though and it was Curran who grabbed it after Thistle had failed to deal with a Martin Woods cutback.
But inexplicably they took their foot off the gas and slumped to another poor result, which does nothing for their hopes of steering clear of a relegation battle.
Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald: "I was his (Kris Doolan's) team-mate as well, he's one of the hardest working players and a real team player.
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"Any of our young lads could pick Kris as a role model. He doesn't get the credit he deserves because he's at a club like Partick Thistle but he's very much appreciated with the fans and everybody at the club.
"We didn't really get going but we were much better in the second half. We showed great character to come back and see the game out. We know the run we've got coming up, we've got Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers coming up, but we'll go into these games with confidence."
Ross County manager Jim McIntyre: "I was pleased with the way we approached the game and we were the better team in the first half. I thought the second half was quite even, but the free-kick which leads to the first goal is not a free-kick and he's got to give a penalty when Liam Lindsay has grabbed Alex Schalk's hand and spun him, so them two decisions went against us.
"The second goal is atrocious from our point of view. We've put so much into the game but come away with nothing, and that's killed our top six hopes."
Match ends, Partick Thistle 2, Ross County 1.
Second Half ends, Partick Thistle 2, Ross County 1.
Corner,  Ross County. Conceded by Adam Barton.
Attempt missed. Adebayo Azeez (Partick Thistle) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is just a bit too high.
Marcus Fraser (Ross County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Adebayo Azeez (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Marcus Fraser (Ross County).
Substitution, Ross County. Ryan Dow replaces Craig Curran.
Substitution, Ross County. Jim O'Brien replaces Christopher Routis.
Goal!  Partick Thistle 2, Ross County 1. Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Adam Barton.
Substitution, Ross County. Michael Gardyne replaces Jay McEveley.
Attempt blocked. Danny Devine (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner,  Partick Thistle. Conceded by Jay McEveley.
Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle).
Liam Boyce (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner,  Partick Thistle. Conceded by Jason Naismith.
Liam Lindsay (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Andrew Davies (Ross County).
Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Alex Schalk (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle).
Attempt missed. Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Attempt saved. Adebayo Azeez (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card.
Goal!  Partick Thistle 1, Ross County 1. Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Adebayo Azeez replaces Chris Erskine.
Adam Barton (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Martin Woods (Ross County).
Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Christopher Routis (Ross County).
Goal!  Partick Thistle 0, Ross County 1. Craig Curran (Ross County) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Liam Boyce.
Attempt blocked. Liam Boyce (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Liam Boyce (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Corner,  Partick Thistle. Conceded by Andrew Davies.
Attempt missed. Martin Woods (Ross County) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Attempt saved. Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Corner,  Ross County. Conceded by Ryan Edwards.
Second Half begins Partick Thistle 0, Ross County 0.