A Muslim politician who was murdered in 2002 riots in India's Gujarat state may have "provoked" a violent mob by firing at them, investigators say.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) made its controversial findings in a report to India's Supreme Court.
Former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed in the Gulbarg residential complex in Ahmedabad.
More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in violence that erupted after 60 Hindus were killed in a train fire.
The cause of the train fire is a matter of fierce debate, although Muslims were blamed at the time.
The riots were one of India's worst outbreaks of religious violence.
The SIT, which was appointed by the Supreme Court, is looking into a number of high-profile Gujarat riots cases.
It recently submitted its report to the court, and details of its findings to do with the Gulbarg complex killings are emerging only now.
Mr Jafri fired at the mob and "the provoked mob stormed the [Gulbarg] Society and set it on fire", the SIT report said.
Correspondents say the SIT report invokes the same Newtonian theory of "action and reaction" that the state's controversial Chief Minister Narendra Modi had used as the riots were raging.
In an interview to Zee television on 1 March 2002, Mr Modi is reported to have said that the firing by the MP was an "action" and the massacre was a "reaction".
Mr Modi later denied making the statement and said he was "quoted out of context".
The SIT report confirmed that Mr Modi used the words "action" and "reaction", but it gave a clean chit to the chief minister.
"In his interview, the chief minister has clearly referred to Jafri's firing as 'action' and the massacre as 'reaction'. It may be clarified here that in case late Ehsan Jafri fired at the mob, this could be an immediate provocation to the mob which had assembled there to take revenge of Godhra incidents from Muslims,'' it said.
The report quoted Mr Modi as saying that the train fire was a "heinous crime, for which reactions were being felt".
The controversial chief minister has been blamed by critics for not doing enough to stop the violence.
Zakia Jafri, the MP's widow, says her husband called Mr Modi for help but it never came.
Survivors of the Gulbarg massacre say he fired his gun in self defence as the violent mob attacked the complex.
Mrs Jafri has accused Mr Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministerial colleagues, including top police officials, of conspiracy in the riots.
The chief minister argues that he has been unfairly targeted by his critics and his lawyer called the allegations against his client "absurd".
On the basis of the SIT report,
 in the case.
Mrs Jafri, who received a copy of the SIT investigation into his death earlier this week, has said she would appeal.
The report has been criticised by activists and opposition politicians for giving a clean chit to Mr Modi.
One Congress politician has filed a Right to Information application seeking details of pay and other benefits given to RK Raghavan, the SIT head, by the Gujarat government.
There have also been allegations that Mr Raghavan's foreign trips were financed by the state.


Fermanagh and South Tyrone provided one of the most dramatic results in last year's Westminster election, with Tom Elliott's surprise victory over Michelle Gildernew.

18 April 2016 Last updated at 19:57 BST
This constituency also had the closest contest in the last Assembly Election. Just 62 votes decided the final seat.
On the countdown to May's ballot, BBC NI South West reporter Julian Fowler has been on the election trail.


Southern rail has confirmed trains will be cancelled on all lines apart from the Brighton mainline if a second member of staff is not onboard.

Southern said it had made a temporary agreement with the drivers' union Aslef while talks take place.
He said the move was in return for Aslef suspending an overtime ban which had been due to begin on Sunday.
During the year-long dispute Aslef has argued there should be a second "safety-critical" person on trains.
The drivers' union has been in the dispute with Southern and its parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) over the roles of train staff.
GTR replaced conductors with "on-board supervisors" to work across different services but without the responsibility of closing doors - which has switched to train drivers.
The day-to-day duties of a guard
The Southern spokesman said: "We have accepted that, for this temporary period, we will run trains only if there is a second person onboard when operating off the Brighton mainline.
"Even though those on board staff will not be closing train doors, we will have to cancel services if they are not available.
"We made a temporary agreement with Aslef that allowed them to suspend their action and give further talks every chance of success - we want an end to this once and for all for our passengers."
He said the agreement did not apply to Southern metro services which already operated without a conductor.
On Thursday Aslef announced the suspension of its planned overtime ban for two weeks while talks take place.
Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary, said: "The company has indicated that it is prepared to negotiate with us on a range of outstanding issues and, therefore, we have suspended our overtime ban.
"We now have a fortnight to try and find a resolution."


FBI director James Comey has rejected President Donald Trump's claim on Saturday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, tapped his phone, US media say.

Mr Comey reportedly asked the US justice department to reject the allegation Mr Obama ordered a wiretap during last year's election campaign.
He is said to have asked for the correction because it falsely insinuates that the FBI broke the law.
The development was reported by the New York Times and confirmed by NBC.
The justice department did issue any immediate statement in response to Mr Comey's reported request.
US media quoted officials as saying that Mr Comey believed there was no evidence to support Mr Trump's allegation.
The New York Times and NBC reports came as the White House called on Congress to investigate whether the Obama administration had abused its powers.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said there had been "very troubling" reports "concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election".
Mr Trump called the alleged tapping "Nixon/Watergate", referring to the notorious political scandal of 1972, which led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.
He asked on Twitter whether it was legal for a "sitting president to be wire-tapping" and referred to the allegation as "a new low".
Mr Trump, who has faced intense scrutiny over alleged Russian interference in support of his presidential bid, offered no evidence to support his allegation that phones at Trump Tower were tapped last year.
A spokesman for Mr Obama said the charge was "simply false".
Earlier, the director of national intelligence at the time of the US election, James Clapper, denied there had been any wire-tap on Mr Trump or his election campaign team.
Mr Clapper also told NBC that he knew of no court order to allow monitoring of Trump Tower in New York.
"There was no such wire-tap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, as a candidate, or against his campaign," Mr Clapper said.


Two security alerts in counties Tyrone and Londonderry have ended.

Urney Road in Clady, which was closed following claims that a bomb was left in the area, has now reopened.
A separate alert on the Leighery Road outside Limavady has also ended and the road has reopened.
Nothing suspicious was discovered in either area.


Some of India's richest businessmen have appointed their wives as company directors to comply with a new law.

The deadline to appoint at least one female director fell at midnight on Tuesday.
However, hundreds of the more than 5,000 companies listed on India's two main stock exchanges have failed to do so.
Mukesh Ambani, India's second-richest man, has appointed his wife Nita to the board of Reliance Industries.
Gautam Singhania named his wife Nawaz as a director of Raymond Group, his textile manufacturing business.
Prime Database, which has compiled figures on the number of companies that had complied with the new law, said some 1,819 companies - about a third - listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange had still not announced female directors as of Friday last week.
The percentage is believed to have fallen to 17% by the time the deadline fell.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India announced the measure 13 months ago in an attempt to boost gender diversity in boardrooms and had already extended its original deadline from last October.
UK Sinha, its chairman, said last week it was "very shameful" that so few companies already had female directors.
Firms that fail to comply could be penalised by the board.
Shriram Subramanian, head of corporate advisory firm InGovern, said the companies that had not complied were being lazy.
"It is the height of ridiculousness. It is impossible not to find the required number of qualified women from a billion people," he said.
"Firms think if a large number of companies do not follow the norm nobody will be fined and the deadline will be pushed ahead."
Last month, International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde said the lack of female workers in India was a "huge missed opportunity" for the country's economic growth.
India has a population of about 1.2 billion, but ranks 120th for female labour participation among the 131 nations surveyed by International Labour Organization in 2013.


Michael Phelps won a record 19th Olympic gold medal as the United States clinched the men's 4x100m freestyle relay title in Rio.

The 31-year-old came to Brazil as the most decorated Olympian in history and has now won 23 medals at five Games.
He swam the second leg for the USA, who won in a time of three minutes 9.92 seconds, with France second in 3:10.53 and Australia third in 3:11.37.
Phelps came out of retirement in 2014, having quit after London 2012.
He has won twice as many Olympic gold medals as the athlete second on the list, former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina.
Find out how to get into swimming with our special guide.
"On the block, I thought my heart was going to explode," said the record-breaking American. "I was so hyped, so excited."
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A memorial service has marked the 32nd anniversary of a fire at Bradford City's Valley Parade that claimed the lives of 56 football fans.

More than 250 people were injured on 11 May, 1985, during the football ground disaster.
Bradford City were playing Lincoln City when the fire killed 54 Bradford fans and two Lincoln supporters.
The Lord Mayor of Bradford and The Mayor and Mayoress of Lincoln attended the service.
Live updates and more stories from West Yorkshire
The service at the Bradford City fire memorial sculpture in Centenary Square was attended by the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured.
The act of remembrance included a minute's silence, the laying of wreaths and Abide with Me was sung.
A garland of flowers was also placed on a bell in Bradford City Hall that came from the first fire engine to arrive on the scene of the fire.
Councillor Geoff Reid, Lord Mayor of Bradford said: "It is extremely important to the city and the district that we take time out of our busy lives to remember those who were affected and continue to be affected by the tragic events of 11 May 1985. This act of remembrance is so poignant each year."
At the start of the 1985 game, Bradford City was presented with the Division Three championship title - the team's first trophy in 56 years - in front of 11,000 jubilant fans before the start of the season's last home fixture.
But celebrations turned into tragedy when the main stand - a wooden structure - was engulfed in flames after it is thought someone dropped a lit cigarette.


Mexican police have raided a ranch belonging to the former governor of the state of Veracruz, Javier Duarte.

Mr Duarte stood down from his post in October to face corruption charges and disappeared a week later.
Officers searching his luxury ranch seized 17 paintings believed to be by famous artists such as Joan Miro, Fernando Botero and Leonora Carrington.
Police continue to search for Mr Duarte, who has been charged with organised crime and money laundering.
Mr Duarte denied the accusations made against him before his disappearance but has not spoken out since.
Veracruz Governor Miguel Angel Yunes Linares, who took over as governor last week, said the works of art seized on Sunday would be auctioned off.
The proceeds would be used to finance a children's hospital, he said.
Mr Yunes alleged that the property had been furnished using money siphoned off from public funds.
"More than 200m pesos ($9.7m; Â£7.6m) stolen from the people of Veracruz were spent doing up this house so that Duarte could have people over, now he won't host anything any more," he said.
Officials said the paintings would still have to be verified by experts but they believe they are dealing with works by Mexican painters David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo, Spanish artist Joan Miro and English-born Mexican painter Leonora Carrington.
Officers also found a sculpture by Mexican artist Javier Marin and copies of historic documents such as Mexico's Declaration of Independence.
They said the combined value of the works of art seized would still have to be determined.
They had been stored in a cellar in Mr Duarte's weekend retreat.
The ranch has 25 rooms, a helicopter landing pad, two tennis courts and extensive grounds just outside the city of Cordoba, in north-eastern Veracruz.


In the control room of the Bulgarian border police at Elhovo, set back from the country's 270km (165 mile) long border with Turkey, officers control banks of CCTV screens.

Two years ago, that border comprised two parallel dirt tracks, one on the Bulgarian, one on the Turkish side.
Now a razor-wire fence, 1.5m (5ft) thick, welcomes would-be migrants. Thirty kilometres is already completed, while 100km more remains under construction.
"The purpose of the fence," says Philip Gunev, deputy interior minister, "is to divert flows of migrants towards border crossing points where our limited financial resources allow us to protect European borders in a more efficient way".
Such official checkpoints, he insists, are safer for asylum seekers than trudging long distances, often with small children, over the rough, hilly terrain the fence now cuts across.
Fixed and mobile cameras, mounted on four-by-four vehicles, complete the picture along the whole length of the border.
In the past eight years, since joining the European Union, Bulgaria has spent €300m (£215m) of mostly EU money, reinforcing this border. Another €100m is available to complete the job until 2020. Only €2m will be received for the better integration of refugees in the same period.
Krassimir Kanev, director of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights advocacy groups, is unhappy with the checkpoints.
"The only way to get through is to pay smugglers," he says, arguing that only the richer migrants get a chance to try. "And there's nothing safe about being cramped in the hidden compartment of a truck in the heat of summer."
About one third of Bulgaria's migrants are caught on the border with Turkey, another third as they head north or west inside Bulgaria, and the rest on the Serbian or Romanian borders, as they try to continue their journey towards Hungary on their way to Germany.
Bulgaria has one of the highest rates of granting refugee status in the EU. Refugee status means they also receive a Convention Travel Document (CTD) and under the 1951 Refugee Convention they can travel on to anywhere in the EU and stay for up to 90 days.
In practice, few ever come back, travelling to Germany or elsewhere.
At the Harmanli refugee camp in south-eastern Bulgaria, two police buses bring more asylum seekers.
Children wave happily, adults look more concerned.
Conditions here are much better than they were in 2013, when overcrowding, appalling sanitary conditions, and the alleged cruelty of guards gave Bulgaria a bad name.
Some asylum seekers still express frustration at delays with their applications.
A group of men hold up a snake they killed in the camp the day before. But most acknowledge a big improvement in conditions for the 1,600 refugees here.
Bulgaria is facing growing pressure from Western governments to identify exactly who they do let in.
Ninety percent arrive with no documents whatsoever because they were taken by the smugglers who brought them this far.
In an upstairs room at Harmanli, officers from the Bulgarian intelligence services cross-examine the refugees, most of whom are Syrian Kurds.
While Harmanli is an open camp, those deemed suspect are taken to a prison at Busmantsi, near Sofia, where they can be detained for up to a year, while more investigations are carried out.
"The most frustrating thing about life there was the waiting," said one former Busmantsi inmate, who asked not to be named.
"Your whole life is waiting. You know there will be an end to all this, and one day you will be out, but at this moment you have nothing to do but wait."
Are there radical Islamists inside the prison? I ask.
"People keep themselves to themselves. They only share what they have to," he tells me. "But the radical mood among my friends is all about money, which comes mostly from Saudi Arabia. It has nothing to do with political or religious beliefs."
"Don't link those fleeing terror with those who would like to create it," says Boris Cheshirkov, a UN refugee agency spokesman in Bulgaria. "States can protect refugees, and address security concerns too, by screening and registering them early on."


Hamilton held their nerve to win three valuable points in a scrappy relegation struggle against Kilmranock.

Quality was a victim of what was at stake with these sides among the three being chased down by bottom side Dundee United.
The decisive goal came during the second half, when Carlton Morris scored with a header.
Kilmarnock had few chances to rue, although Kris Boyd did hit the crossbar with a free-kick.
Both of these teams had suffered heavy defeats in recent weeks, so confidence might still have been bruised, but the prevailing mood was to avoid defeat.
That inevitably produced a tense, nerve-ridden encounter in which the play tended to be scrappy and the decision-making rash. The conditions didn't help, since a cold, biting wind gusted across the pitch throughout and contributed to some of the wayward distribution.
Occasional half-chances emerged from the struggle, but they tended to lack composure. Hamilton would have been heartened, for instance, to see that it was Ali Crawford who was sent scurrying through on goal by Morris, but the midfielder - normally so assured - clipped the ball over Jamie Macdonald but wide of the upright.
There were plenty of attacking options in either side, but they were often peripheral. Even when they did participate, they were reduced to the quality of the game overall. Josh Magennis has been a threat for Kilmarnock throughout the season, but he headed well over when Greg Kiltie crossed into the area.
Media playback is not supported on this device
The same flaws were evident in the second-half, with Gramoz Kurtaj met a Morris cross inside the six-yard box but lifted his first-time effort so high over the bar that the ball ended up in the top tier of the stand behind the goal.
With home advantage, Kilmarnock ought to have been more dominant, and they did muster a period of attacking intent. Kris Boyd claimed for a penalty when he looked to have been bundled over inside the area, and later sent a free-kick from 20 yards out glancing off the face of the bar.
In between, Jamie Hamill headed a Kiltie cross over. The sense, then, was of momentum building, but it was quickly curtailed. Ali Crawford's corner was met by Morris, who rose highest in a packed penalty area and headed the ball over Macdonald's reach and into the roof of the net.
As Kilmarnock pushed forward in search of an equaliser, Hamilton reverted to counter-attack football and should have added to their lead when the substitute Alex D'Acol robbed Lee Ashcroft at the byline and squared for Imrie, but he swept his effort over the bar.


A woman who died after her car crashed and overturned with her baby daughter on board has been named.

Hannah Davies, 23, died at the scene on the A92 north of Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, on Saturday.
Her 13-month-old daughter was airlifted to hospital and treated for minor injuries before being released.
Ms Davies' family said: "We would like to thank the folk who stopped to try and help our daughter as well as the emergency services and the hospital."
Police Scotland have appealed for any witnesses who saw Ms Davies' black Nissan Note about the time of the incident to contact them.
Sgt Malcolm Kinross, of the Road Policing Unit, North East Division, said: "First of all, I would say that all our thoughts are with the friends and family of Hannah at this utterly devastating time.
"I would like to thank everyone who assisted at the scene."
He urged anyone who saw a black Nissan Note at about 10:50 on Saturday on the A92 Inverbervie to Kinneff road, to contact police on the 101 number.


An Indian farmer has died after hanging himself from a tree before a huge crowd at a rally addressed by the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal.

Gajendra Singh, from the western state of Rajasthan, was taken to hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had staged the rally in Delhi to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial land acquisition bill.
Opponents of the bill say it will hurt the interests of farmers.
However, the government says it will boost the economy.
The bill was passed in the lower house of parliament last month but has not yet been approved by the upper house, where Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party is in the minority.
Since 1995, more than 300,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves because of debts or poor harvests. However, correspondents say this is the most high-profile incident of its kind, taking place before thousands of people at a rally in the capital.
Witnesses say the farmer only attracted the crowd's attention when he climbed to the top of the tree and tied a scarf around his neck.
AAP volunteers reportedly tried to stop Mr Singh from hanging himself but they could not reach him in time. Spectators at political rallies in India often climb trees and other tall structures to get the best view.
A suicide note, written in Hindi, was recovered, in which Mr Singh said he had three children.
"I was driven out of my home after my crops were destroyed [by bad weather]. Please tell me how I go home," he wrote.
A local journalist who visited the farmer's home in his village in Rajasthan's Dausa district told BBC Hindi that his family appeared unaware of the news.
However, others in the village had learnt of the suicide from the television news.
Mr Kejriwal addressed the rally shortly after the man was taken to hospital. He said he had been telling the police to save the farmer but they were "not in our control".
The chief minister visited the hospital after his speech. He also said the country's farmers had lost faith in Mr Modi's government.
Mr Modi tweeted that he was shocked by the death.
"At no point must the hardworking farmer think he is alone. We are all together in creating a better tomorrow for the farmers of India," he said.
India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that he was "deeply pained" by the news and ordered the Delhi police commissioner to hold an inquiry.
Senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi also visited the hospital after news of the suicide and urged the country's farmers not to panic.
Unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms in many parts of India in recent weeks have destroyed standing crops, putting further strain on impoverished farmers.


Some gamers eager to play Halo 5, one of the most hotly anticipated Xbox One games of the year, have expressed frustration over slow downloads.

Several would-be players of the new title, which launched on Tuesday, have posted comments online complaining that the game is taking "hours" to download.
Halo 5, which is available digitally, is 55 gigabytes (GB) but also includes a patch of a further 9GB.
The patch must be downloaded on launch day in order to play online.
One Twitter user commented that their download had been running for over seven hours.
"7 and a a [sic] half hours later and halo 5 hasn't finish game installation download... [Never mind] the online updates," they wrote.
Another, on Reddit, said their download became "stuck" at 85%. A few hours later they added a comment explaining that the download had completed.
"Now it's 9:00am and I got work in 20 minutes. So much for sleep lol," they wrote.
Yet another added, "Started my install nearly 10 hours ago and when I woke up this morning my download was at 34%. I am absolutely furious."
However, Microsoft has played down the issue.
"The download speeds for Halo 5: Guardians are normal and working as intended," a spokeswoman told the BBC.
"There were isolated reports of slower speeds last evening, shortly after the worldwide launch, but everything is now working as expected."
Issues with downloading large video game installation and update files are increasingly common, according to Piers Harding-Rolls, a games analyst at IHS.
"If you go for a digital version you've got to download the whole game and if it's a very popular one you're likely to be dealing with a slow network as well," he told the BBC.
While there are advantages in the sense that games can be updated with new and improved content, problems can occur when new files fail to distribute smoothly, he added.
"From the consumer point of view, it's not great to have to wait many hours to get access to content," he said.
"This is an issue that console companies and publishers really need to look at seriously."
Mr Harding-Rolls suggested that the approach of "pre-loading", in which a video game is downloaded to a console and then activated on launch day, is a good way around the problem.
While the main game file for Halo 5 did pre-load for many users, they were still forced to wait for the 9GB update file to download and install before they could start playing online.
It's not the largest "day-one patch" there's been. Elder Scrolls Online, for example, which launched on PS4 and Xbox One this summer, included a 15GB patch on launch day.


Twenty-four-year-old Antonio Oliveira was born into a poor, mixed race family in the state of Maranhao in north-east Brazil.

As a teenager he had to balance his time between school and helping his parents harvest vegetables to sell at a farmer's market, and doing other small jobs to scrape by.
Until recently, he says the only prospects for those growing up in his city, Colinas, were to work with crops or to get a post at the city hall - "a mediocre job that people think is heaven," as he puts it.
But Antonio has just finished his first term studying Economic Sciences at Rio de Janeiro's prestigious Federal University (UFRJ), a dream he had nurtured since his days at a rural public school.
His placement represents a radical change in the Brazilian university system.
A new law approved a year ago reserves 50% of spots in Brazil's federal universities for students coming from public schools, low-income families and who are of African or indigenous descent.
The number of posts reserved for black, mixed race and indigenous students will vary according to the racial make-up of each Brazilian state.
Ten years ago affirmative action gradually started being adopted in both state and federally funded Brazilian universities, in an attempt to give underprivileged Brazilians better chances of getting free higher education - and thus access to better jobs.
Half of Brazil's population is of African descent, but the country's public universities tend to reflect the Brazilian upper classes - who are mostly white.
Although these universities are free, those who traditionally made it in usually came from expensive private schools. Students from public education - the majority of whom are black or mixed race - were less likely to secure one of the highly competitive places.
Now the "quotas" are mandatory in all of Brazil's 59 federal universities, which have until 2016 to reserve half of their positions for affirmative action.
"I think this is a life-changing opportunity," says Antonio. "I hope I will get a good job after university and be able to give my parents more comfort as they grow old."
But racial quotas have sparked widespread controversy in Brazil. Many who are against them argue that easing access to higher education denies the principle of merit that brings excellence to universities.
"This is bad for the future of Brazil, because the main objective of universities is research, is to achieve quality," says Antonio Freitas, provost of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a prestigious private university.
"Eventually you may not have the most qualified people in engineering, in medical school, in the most challenging areas which Brazil needs to develop."
Mr Freitas says Brazil is trying to solve a problem artificially. Instead of giving everyone good basic education, and thus conditions to compete as equals, the government is "trying to force students without preparation into university".
Quota critics also argue that Brazil has never before had public policies based on race and that this establishes divisions in society. They say that promoting these policies would contradict Brazil's national identity, where most of the population is mixed race.
Before the Quotas Law was introduced for federal universities, the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) was a pioneer of affirmative action.
After 10 years, rector Ricardo Vieiralves says their experience challenges critics' arguments and says the quotas programme has been successful.
He says there are fewer dropouts among students admitted through quotas, and they are the ones who graduate the fastest.
"They have lower grades in the beginning but are level with the others by the middle of the course and sometimes excel non-quota students in the end."
Mr Vieiralves says Brazil was unprepared for the abolition of slavery, which came to an end 125 years ago but its legacy has impacted generations of Brazilians of African descent and left deep racial inequality within the country's society.
"Brazilian studies always showed that poor and black people did not make it into higher education. University was a place for the elites.
"Quota students have a new opportunity, and they grasp it and study like crazy," says Mr Vieiralves.
Sources: Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and Group of Multidisciplinary Studies of Affirmative Action (IESP/UERJ)
In Brazil, poverty and a darker skin colour often coincide. On average, black or mixed race people earn little over half of what white Brazilians do.
Those of African descent spend on average two fewer years at school than the country's white population. With less education, many African-Brazilians only manage to get basic jobs.
Joao Feres Jr, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, says it is "undeniable" that there is still racial discrimination in Brazil. He believes quotas are necessary not only to level inequalities but also to challenge expectations.
"You grow up in a society where you never see a black person in a position of power or high status, so you learn to associate black people [with] menial jobs, [with] low paid-jobs.
"Even people who are not actively prejudiced build up this kind of expectation," he says. "I think the affirmative action breaks with that."
But even as the university system tries to level the playing field, the Brazilian job market still largely reflects the white elite.
Less than 30% of Brazil's employers are black or mixed race. But some companies are trying to change the make-up of their workforce.
IBM is one of them. Logistics procurement manager Warley Costa is in charge of a human resources group that aims to increase racial diversity at the company in Brazil.
But when the company announces job opportunities, only a small number of Afro-descendents come forward as candidates, he says.
"We see a gap on the university level. There is a small number of black people being prepared to go into university and to fill market positions that are open."
The company liaises with universities, high schools and institutions linked to Brazilian black communities to attract and better prepare candidates.
"We are trying to support them in order to give them better conditions to fill the job opportunities we have open," says Mr Costa.
He says the number of black or mixed race employees has been growing by about 3% a year in IBM Brazil, which employs close to 20,000 people.
"Today I can say that we are ok reflecting the Brazilian population inside our team. We have a big diversity here. We don't have gaps. But we are trying to grow, as much as possible."
You can hear more on this story on Business Daily on BBC World Service on Friday at 08:30 BST (07:30 GMT) and 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT).


Malaysia's highest court has rejected a challenge to the ban on Christians using the word "Allah" to refer to God, in a highly divisive legal case in the Muslim-majority nation.

The case was brought by the Catholic Church, which sought to overturn a ban first put in place in 2007.
But the Federal Court said an earlier ruling backing the ban was correct.
The case began over the use of "Allah" to refer to the Christian God in the Catholic Church's Malay-language paper.
People of all faiths use the word Allah in Malay to refer to their deities.
Christians argue they have used the word, which entered Malay from Arabic, to refer to their God for centuries and that the ruling violates their rights.
Malaysian authorities say its use by Christians could confuse Muslims and lead some to convert to Christianity.
Malay Muslims make up almost two-thirds of the country's population, but there are large Hindu and Christian communities.
The long-running case has proved very controversial, sparking impassioned debate and leading to occasional attacks on mosques and churches.
The Catholic Church's newspaper, The Herald, appealed against the initial ban and in 2009 a court ruled in its favour, but that judgement that was later overturned by the Court of Appeal.
This ruling was handed down by a seven-member panel, which voted by 4-3 to dismiss the challenge.
Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew said he was "greatly disappointed" by the judgement which "didn't touch on the fundamental rights of minorities".
Muslim activists outside the court welcomed the decision, however.
S Selvarajah, one of the lawyers for the Church, said the ruling marked the end of legal proceedings. "It's a blanket ban. Non-Muslims cannot use the word," he told AFP news agency.
But reports in Malaysian newspapers suggested the Church could call for a review of the decision.


A student and his dog have donned robes in Edinburgh at his graduation after the pet helped his owner complete his university degree.

Jack Proctor, 34, joined forces with cocker spaniel Fudge as he studied for his design and digital arts degree at Edinburgh Napier University.
The seven-year-old dog starred in Jack's introductory video and course work, and was in his dissertation.
Fudge was at the ceremony wearing robes made by Mr Proctor's wife.
Mr Proctor, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, said: "I know it seems eccentric, but Fudge has been part of my journey through uni since day one, so it just feels like a nice way to mark the journey's end.
"He was such a fundamental part of my dissertation that I even mentioned him in the acknowledgement section."
Mr Proctor and Fudge were seen online last year doing the Ice Bucket Challenge craze when technical trickery was used to show Jack being hoodwinked into getting a soaking by his four-legged friend.
Fudge featured in a series of videos for Jack's dissertation on how designers can optimise the shareability of their work, comedy special effects being used to show the dog regularly outsmarting hapless humans.
He also took lead and cameo roles in Mr Proctor's course assignment videos including The Dog Dice (in which Fudge plays Snakes and Ladders) and the Soi Dog Foundation.
Mr Proctor said: "Our Ice Bucket Challenge video was our most successful, with millions of views on Facebook and 250,000 on Youtube, but other videos we had made have had view counts ranging from 30,000 to 300,000, and have appeared on news video sites.
"We are very much a partnership so it just seemed right that Fudge should share my big day with me."


The DUP has accused those who published comments by one of their MLAs about same-sex marriage made during a private online conversation of attempting to "score party political points".

The website, Slugger O'Toole, published messages from DUP MLA Pam Cameron.
She said petitions of concern (poc), like the one used by the party on Monday's same-sex marriage vote, were "signed in advance" by MLAs.
This was so that the party "can use (them) strategically", she said.
"We are not asked to sign on issue," the message added.
Ms Cameron, an MLA for South Antrim, said she suspected all the Stormont parties worked in the same way.
On the issue of same-sex marriage, she said: "I have gay friends. I'm not a homophobic bigot.
"There are many more of 'me' we will see NI move forward. Promise".
The Slugger O'Toole report, which later disappeared from the website, did not make clear the identity of the person with whom the MLA had been exchanging messages
However, DUP sources claim it was someone connected to the Alliance Party.
The DUP said the private direct message had "been released by someone who has chosen to conceal not only their identity, but their portion of the conversation".
The party said the comments had  "a date stamp from over six months ago", making them of little relevance to Monday's debate.
The DUP pointed out that all their MLAs voted in the same way as they had done on four previous occasions and "perhaps those who changed their position today may wish to explain whether this reflects any pressure applied from within their own party."
The measure was designed as a way to safeguard minority rights in Northern Ireland's power-sharing assembly.
If a petition of concern is presented to the assembly speaker, any motion or amendment will need cross-community support.
In such cases, a vote on proposed legislation will only pass if supported by a weighted majority (60%) of members voting, including at least 40% of each of the nationalist and unionist designations present and voting.
Effectively this means that, provided enough MLAs from a particular community agree, that community can exercise a veto over the assembly's decisions.


Actress Gina McKee has backed a scheme to give all children in the north-east of England a taste of the arts to make sure young talent does not go untapped.

McKee said attending a youth drama group in her home town of Peterlee, County Durham, "changed my life".
"Particularly in today's climate of austerity, it deeply concerns me that this kind of work must continue to be funded," she said.
She was speaking at the launch of a 15-year cultural strategy for the region.
Titled The Case For Culture, it aims to get 500,000 more people - including 285,000 more children - involved in the arts in the north-east by 2030.
It also hopes to increase investment in the arts in the area from Â£100m to Â£300m over the next five years.
The strategy has been co-ordinated by Ros Rigby, who now works at the Sage concert hall in Gateshead - but who organised the Peterlee Youth Drama Workshop when McKee was a member in the late 1970s.
McKee said: "I had no idea what a youth drama workshop was. But with nothing better to do, we went along to find out.
"Looking back, I can see that the decision to attend the workshop that night has proved to be deeply significant for me. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it changed my life."
McKee started getting professional acting jobs within months, and went on to make her name in the Newcastle-set 1996 TV drama Our Friends in the North.
"Back then I had no idea that I could make a living in a creative industry," she said. "Other people did that kind of thing.
"I'll always feel deeply grateful to Ros and the team. It may have been a youth drama workshop but what it offered us were invaluable lessons in life.
"Particularly in today's climate of austerity, it deeply concerns me that this kind of work must continue to be funded.
"At a time when drama schools and university courses have become an even more daunting prospect for the less well-off, I can't stress enough how truly valuable arts initiatives like Peterlee Youth Drama Workshop can be in getting the very best from our local communities.
"And there are amazing communities here in the north-east, filled with people with stories that need to be told and amazing talents that need to be discovered, developed and widely celebrated."
McKee's comments come after stars including Julie Walters, David Morrissey and McKee's Our Friends in the North co-star Christopher Eccleston warned about vanishing opportunities for actors from working class backgrounds.
Ros Rigby said opportunities for young people had increased as arts funding has gone up over the last 20 years.
"It's now [been] cut back quite a bit, but it grew and there are now a lot more [opportunities]," said Mrs Rigby, who is the Sage's performance programme director.
"But also we have one of the highest unemployment levels in the country in the north-east, and times are not easy.
"For young people it's not just about, do they want to go and join something. It's about, have they got a bus fare? There are still challenges."
The Case For Culture strategy has been compiled by the north-east's 12 local authorities and five universities as well as its theatres, galleries and museums.
Artists Jane and Louise Wilson, writer Michael Chaplin, Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley and Heritage Lottery Fund chief executive Carole Souter also spoke at Wednesday's launch.
By 2030, the Case For Culture's five targets are to:


Italian film composer Ennio Morricone has had to cancel concerts in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City due to a back injury suffered earlier this year.

Morricone is renowned for his work on spaghetti westerns such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West.
The show at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on 15 June was set to be his first performance in the city.
In a statement he apologised to fans, saying he was "extremely disappointed".
"I was very much looking forward to my first Los Angeles performance and only my second New York City performance," said Morricone, who was also scheduled to perform at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on 13 June and in Mexico City on 18 June.
"Hollywood has been instrumental in bringing my work to American audiences, and my 2007 performance in New York was one of the high points of my career to date," he continued.
"I apologise to my fans for having to cancel these shows, and hope that I am able to make it back soon."
Morricone was expected to conduct his own 100-piece orchestra during the performances and would have been accompanied by a 75-voice choir in LA.
The singers were informed on Sunday that the show had been cancelled, according to Variety, due to Morricone's "serious health issues".
According to Deadline Hollywood, the composer's lawyer has revealed that the injury prevents him from conducting or flying.
Morricone previously postponed a series of April dates in Europe with "great disappointment", following medical advice after a recent "back procedure".
They were rescheduled for June, July and October, with the first due to take place in Cologne on 22 June. It is not yet known if these dates will go ahead.
Morricone has composed more than 400 film scores, ranging from Italian westerns with directors such as Sergio Leone to working with Hollywood directors like Oliver Stone, John Carpenter and Brian De Palma.
Notable films include The Mission, Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables and Bugsy.
Many of his compositions have been reused by director Quentin Tarantino in films including Kill Bill and 2012's Django Unchained, for which he also composed an original track, Ancora Qui.
Morricone has been nominated for five Academy Awards and was given an honorary Oscar in 2007, only the second composer to be recognised for his body of work.
The LA Times reported that Morricone had said he would continue to compose while he recovers.


Oscar-winning director Alejandro G Inarritu faced a number of challenges while making snowbound survival tale The Revenant - one of them being a shortage of actual snow.

In period western The Revenant, a 19th Century fur trapper on the American frontier wages a gruelling battle for survival after he is savagely mauled by a bear and left for dead by his callow fellow hunters.
(The title of the film, as fans of spooky French TV series Les Revenants will know, refers to one who returns from the dead.)
No-one would pretend the makers of Leonardo DiCaprio's latest suffered anything comparable. Yet the film still represented a formidable endurance test for all involved.
Just ask Will Poulter, the 22-year-old British actor who plays the youngest member of an embattled hunting party that also includes Tom Hardy and Ireland's Domhnall Gleeson, of Star Wars: The Force Awakens fame.
"I think for the entire cast and crew it was the hardest thing they've ever done, and possibly the hardest thing any of us will ever do as well," he told the BBC.
"It was gruelling and pushed us far beyond our personal limits, or at least what we initially thought we were capable of, both physically and emotionally."
At one point, the arduous shoot in Alberta, Canada, saw crew members confronted by a blizzard that plunged temperatures down to minus 27 centigrade.
DiCaprio, meanwhile, was obliged to be buried in snow, go naked in sub-zero weather and jump into water every bit as bone-chilling as that he faced in Titanic.
Not only that, but the vegetarian star of The Departed and The Aviator was also compelled in one scene to sink his teeth into a raw hunk of bison's liver.
"The bad part is the membrane around it," the star told Variety last month. "It's like a balloon. When you bite into it, it bursts in your mouth."
For director Alejandro G Inarritu, however, an even bigger challenge arose when an unseasonable warm spell saw the snow vanish faster than Michael Keaton's Oscar speech.
(For those who missed last year's Academy Awards, the Birdman star was seen discreetly putting his acceptance speech back into his pocket after being pipped to the best actor award by Britain's Eddie Redmayne.)
"We were victims of global warming," said Inarritu. "Usually there's a huge amount of snow in February but it was almost like summer: historically they registered the hottest winter ever.
"We went to our locations and they were destroyed by just one degree difference in temperature in the months it should not happen."
In the end the production was forced to decamp to Tierra del Fuego on the southern-most tip of South America in order to get the snowy landscapes they needed.
"There was a very big possibility I would not finish the film in time to release it this year," admitted the director, whose previous films include Babel and 21 Grams.
"The conditions and the weather were absolutely madness."
Admittedly, Inarritu and his regular cinematographer - two-time Oscar-winner Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki - did not make it easy on themselves.
At an early stage of production, it was decided the film would not only be shot chronologically but would also be illuminated only by natural light or firelight - an aesthetic choice that placed an additional time constraint on an already pressurised crew.
"We had to find the right time of day for our shots and then pray the weather would hold," said Inarritu. "It took a lot of time, thought and rehearsal to get it right.
"One thing is the notion of things and the other thing is the reality of those things. You go into the reality of things and they are normally very different from what you thought."
"There was a pursuit of perfection right from the off, and it was something Alejandro encouraged everyone to shoot for in every department," said Poulter. "We were out there so long it took an emotional toll on all of us.
"But it was amazing to return to the film approach of old, where you shoot in natural light on location, with real weather elements.
"We were able to work on a level of authenticity that you couldn't recreate in a studio."
One sequence that could not have been done authentically was the harrowing bear attack DiCaprio's Hugh Glass character is subjected to near the beginning of the film.
The bear itself is a computer-generated creation - a detail that was overlooked by The Drudge Report when it claimed the creature had subjected DiCaprio to a sexual assault.
The claim was considered serious enough to merit an official response from the film's distributor, who insisted there was "clearly no rape scene with a bear".
For his part, Inarritu expresses bafflement that such an outlandish story could gather so much traction in such a short space of time.
"How do these things happen? Nobody understands," he told the BBC News website. "It's indescribable how something that absurd can be validated by newspapers.
"It is," the Mexican film-maker concludes, "a crazy world."
The Revenant is out in the UK and Ireland on 15 January.


An 11-month-old baby girl was killed by a "pit bull terrier-type" dog while asleep upstairs in bed, police said.

Ava-Jayne Marie Corless was taken to hospital from Emily Street, Blackburn, at 23:00 GMT on Monday where she died.
The baby's mother Chloe King, 20, and her boyfriend have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. They were downstairs when she was attacked.
Ava-Jayne was not at her home address but lived nearby. The pet, classed as a dangerous dog, has been destroyed.
Ms King and her 26-year-old boyfriend Lee Wright, who is not the child's father, are also being questioned on suspicion of child neglect.
A post-mortem examination will take place to find out the exact cause of Ava-Jayne's death.
During a press conference, Ch Supt Chris Bithell said: "This is an absolutely horrific incident in which a baby girl has lost her life."
Police were first alerted by the ambulance service who were called to reports of the girl being mauled by a pet dog.
"I'm told it's quite a large pit bull-type dog," Mr Bithell said.
"As part of the investigation we are making inquiries to see whether there have been previous issues with this particular dog," he added.
A Lancashire Police spokesman later confirmed that the dog was a "pit bull terrier-type dog prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991".
The mother and boyfriend remain in custody, he added.
No-one else was injured during the attack.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "She was a lovely little girl, always smiling, always happy, just like her mum.
"It's sickened me to my stomach."


New pictures of asteroid 2004 BL86, which passed close by Earth yesterday, have been released by US space agency Nasa.

27 January 2015 Last updated at 14:30 GMT
They show that the asteroid has its own small moon orbiting it.
The asteroid passed by the Earth at a safe distance of 1.2 million km, giving scientists a rare chance to study it 'up close'.
The new data shows that asteroid 2004 BL86 is about 325m across, and its moon is around 70m wide.
Now that it has passed Earth the asteroid will continue on its orbit around the Sun, and it won't come this close again for another 200 years!
The next 'close shave' of a large asteroid is due in 2027: that object is called 1999 AN10 and is just over 1km wide.


England's Dan Norton has become the all-time leading try scorer in World Sevens Series history.

Winger Norton, 29, scored his 245th try to help his side beat South Korea 52-0 in the Hong Kong Sevens on Friday.
"It's an amazing feeling, it was hard with the record in sight to try and control my brain coming into it," said Norton, who made his debut in 2009.
"The exciting thing for Dan is he's still got a few years left in him," said England head coach Simon Amor.
England, who lie second in this season's overall standings behind South Africa, are chasing their first title in Hong Kong since 2006.
Norton's tally of 245 tries is one ahead of Kenya's Collins Injera who did not score as Kenya lost to Canada 17-14.
Norton starred in Great Britain's Rio Olympics 2016 campaign, when  they lost in the final to Fiji.


The general election campaign is now in full swing and you can follow every step of the way on the BBC News NI website.

We have a mass of information for you to digest on our election hub at Election 2015 - Northern Ireland - BBC News
We have profiles of all 18 constituencies and the main political parties and, over the coming weeks, will take an in-depth look at the party leaders.
There will, of course, be analysis from our top team of political experts.
All our stories are tagged, enabling you to personalise your news feed on your mobile; whether you want to follow a particular political party or you want to keep an eye on a constituency, we will keep you up to date.
We also have a clickable guide to the issues at the heart of this election.
And there will be a full list of candidates by the close of nominations on 9 April.
We will have all the stories as the campaign builds momentum, manifestos are launched and political broadsides are exchanged between candidates and parties.
On election night, the constituency streams will really come into play as you can keep across how the vote is looking in your part of Northern Ireland.
We will also have an overnight live page bringing you constant updates on how the parties are faring, who is out who is in, the big stories of the election and latest from the count centres.
We'll bring you up-to-date content from our reporters and correspondents in the count centres,  and will be across social media with the very latest commentary.
In this election, more than ever before, the focus could be on the Northern Ireland parties if there is a hung parliament.
So even after the results are in, we'll bring you all the wheeling and dealing that could result in another coalition government or a minority one.
And we'll bring you analysis of what this will mean for Northern Ireland.
What are the top issues for each political party at the 2015 general election?
Policy guide: Where the parties stand


American Christian Taylor retained his Olympic triple jump title with a season's best leap of 17.86m.

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The 26-year-old world champion set his best mark in round one.
Fellow American Will Claye took silver with a personal best jump of 17.76m, while China's Bin Dong secured the bronze with 17.58m.
Taylor jumped 18.21m in winning the world title last year but did not threaten Jonathan Edwards' 1995 world record of 18.29m on this occasion.
"Gold medal, defending champion, it's a dream come true. Everything came together and the stars were aligned," Taylor told BBC Sport.
Asked about challenging Edwards' 21-year-old world record, he added: "I want it so much. I have got to stay patient. Until I get that world record by my name, my career won't be complete."
Find out about how to get into athletics with our special guide.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.


Rights group Amnesty International has called for an inquiry into the alleged killing of a journalist in India.

Jagendra Singh died on Monday, a week after he was allegedly set on fire by a group of men in Uttar Pradesh state.
The attack happened after he published an article and posted allegations of corruption on Facebook against ruling party politician Ram Murti Singh Verma.
Police have registered a complaint of murder and criminal conspiracy against Mr Verma, who denies the charges.
Jagendra Singh's family has alleged that Mr Verma and a group of policemen assaulted the 42-year-old journalist at his home and then doused him with petrol and set him on fire.
A local police official claimed that Mr Singh had "committed suicide" when the police arrived at his house in Shahjahanpur district to "arrest him" in connection with a case.
Amnesty International has urged the government of Uttar Pradesh to launch an independent investigation into the incident.
"This horrific attack highlights the dangers that journalists can face in doing their jobs," Shemeer Babu of Amnesty International India said in a statement.
Although police have opened a case against Mr Verma and five others in connection with the incident, no arrests have been made yet.
"We have booked the minister for murder and criminal conspiracy and the investigations are on," Vijay Singh Meena, a senior state police official, told AFP news agency.
The Press Council of India (PCI) also called for a special investigation into the incident, saying the incident was "an attack on freedom of press".
Journalists often face harassment and intimidation by police, politicians and bureaucrats in India.
The country ranked 136 out of 180 nations in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index, according to Paris-based Reporters without Borders.


There was no formal process for logging the bathing of a teenager found unconscious in a bath at an Oxfordshire care unit, an inquest has heard.

Connor Sparrowhawk, 18, who had learning difficulties and epilepsy, was being treated in Slade House, in Headington, Oxfordshire, in 2013.
Oxford Coroners Court heard he died later in hospital after being found unresponsive in the water.
The NHS has apologised for a "preventable" death.
An independent report later found that Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust had "failed significantly" in his care and treatment.
The court heard Connor was moved into Slade House - run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust - in March 2013 after his behaviour became increasingly aggressive.
The inquest was told Connor was to be woken early on the morning of 4 July to be taken on a bus trip.
But he was discovered submerged and unresponsive in a bath shortly after 09:00 BST. Staff called an ambulance but he died later in hospital.
Pathologist Dr Ben Phillips said his death was likely to have been caused by an epileptic seizure.
Evidence was also given by a support worker on shift who had run Connor a bath.  Jurors heard that staff had been told he should be checked every 15 minutes while in the bath but there was no formal place to log this observation.
The jury was told an independent report commissioned by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust found the death had been preventable and staff members dispute aspects of its findings.
The coroner told the inquest the trust had apologised to the family for the "preventable" death.
The inquest is expected to last two weeks.


Castleford Tigers' Mike McMeeken and Gold Coast Titans' Chris McQueen will make their international debuts for England in Saturday's Test against Samoa in Sydney.

The back-row pair were two of three uncapped players in the squad, with St Helens prop Alex Walmsley missing out.
McQueen, Australia-born to an English father, has previously represented Queensland in State of Origin.
Cronulla's Chris Heighington will make his first appearance since 2011.
McMeeken, whose amateur rugby came with Staines Titans before joining London Broncos, is one of three Castleford players in the starting 13.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs prop James Graham has overcome concussion fears to take his place in the side, with all seven Australia-based players selected.
There are a few surprises in Wayne Bennett's selection, with Castleford's Zak Hardaker named in the centres - a position he is familiar with despite making full-back his regular spot - and Warrington's Stefan Ratchford wearing the number one jersey.
Saints centre Mark Percival misses out, as does Hull FC prop Scott Taylor.
Samoa are yet to name their starting line-up but have several major NRL stars in Brisbane half-back Anthony Milford, Graham's Bulldogs team-mate Sam Kasiano and Canberra winger Joey Leilua.
England: Ratchford (Warrington Wolves); McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants), Watkins (Leeds Rhinos), Hardaker (Castleford Tigers), Hall (Leeds Rhinos); Brown (Warrington Wolves), Gale (Castleford Tigers); S Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Hodgson (Canberra Raiders), Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs), McMeeken (Castleford Tigers), Whitehead (Canberra Raiders), O'Loughlin (Wigan Warriors, capt).
Replacements: Hill (Warrington Wolves), Heighington (Cronulla Sutherland Sharks), McQueen (Gold Coast Titans), T Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs).


Josh Taylor insists the hype surrounding his bout with Ohara Davies on Saturday motivates him rather than fills him with doubt.

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The Commonwealth super-lightweight champion from East Lothian faces the WBC Silver champion at Braehead Arena with both fighters undefeated to date.
"I thrive on this. I thrive on the big events and the big crowds. I don't feel any pressure at all," said Taylor, 26.
"He's trying to convince himself he's got a big chance."
Davies, who operates from the same Essex Matchroom stable as Taylor's compatriot Ricky Burns, has been involved in a long-running spat with his Prestonpans opponent on social media.
And at Thursday's media conference in Glasgow, the Tony Sims-trained fighter from Hackney was far from complimentary about Taylor, his promoter Barry McGuigan and trainer, Barry's son Shane.
"He's a bum - him and all his team are bums," said the 25-year-old.
"I call everyone in my weight class that is a threat to me bums."
The Scot boasts a record of nine wins from his nine professional bouts. In his short career since turning to the paid ranks after winning gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he has fought three times in both America and Edinburgh, and in Belfast, Manchester and Cardiff.
The bout at Braehead is his first in Glasgow as his Cyclone Promotions management team try to build "a new national hero" in the same way that stablemate Carl Frampton is revered by fans in Northern Ireland.
A win for Taylor would give him a top 15 world ranking by the WBC and create an opportunity for future lucrative fights.
He is adamant that he is driven by this prospect, and not by the goading.
"He just tries to wind you up, but it's not working," he said.
"It's a little bit of bravado, confidence and just his arrogance coming out and a little that he's nervous and trying to build momentum.
"But with me, I'm just super confident from the inside out."
Big-hitting Davies defeated Liverpool's Derry Mathews at London's O2 Arena in March to record his 15th win on the trot and claim the WBC Silver belt.
While he is ambitious, he has made it clear that titles are not necessarily the key thing that motivates him.
"I like the belt, but the belt doesn't put food on my plate," he said.
"The belt doesn't feed me. The belt's not going to buy me a house. Money is. You've got to put first things first. It's a business.
"I'm looking forward to it, but what I'm looking forward to more is after the fight, going to Five Guys, Burger King, there's a 24-hour McD's in the city centre so that's the first place I'm going to be headed.
"That's what I'm looking forward to more than the fight.
"As soon as my entrance music comes on, I don't see the crowd, I don't hear the crowd. All I hear is what I tell myself and what I hear from my coach.
"I can shut everything out, and I do shut everything out."
Taylor's training mate Frampton describes him as a "tremendous fighter" and "the most exciting prospect in Britain".
"He has a bit of everything - he can fight, he can box, his distance control is brilliant, his punch selection and variety is brilliant, he can grit it out when he has to," said the former WBA and IBF super bantamweight and WBA super featherweight world champion.
"I know Ricky Burns has done a lot and he's a great fighter, but I think Josh Taylor could be the best fighter to come out of Scotland since Ken Buchanan.
"I have sparred with him a few times and I don't like it, to be honest. He's very, very hard work.
"People look at his dimensions and he's a tall, skinny guy. He can wallop hard, he's very hard, he's gritty, he takes a good shot."


Emergency services were called to the Caledonian Canal in Inverness after a woman fell into the water.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Ambulance Service were alerted to the incident at about 09:30.
It happened next to the A82 road where it crosses a swing bridge on the west side of the city.
The woman was understood to have got herself out of the canal.


"Treacherous" road conditions caused four crashes involving 21 cars in which a woman died on the A40 in Oxfordshire.

The accidents happened within a mile-and-a-half-stretch between the B4047 and the A415 at Witney, three days after Christmas.
Debbie Blood, 54, from Gloucester, was in a car that crashed into the back of a stationary lorry.
Four other people were taken to hospital and 15 people treated at the scene, the ambulance service said.
The driver of the lorry, Sauklius Gajauskas, had activated his hazard lights because he had seen a collision ahead.
Ms Blood's partner, Shane Giles, was driving the car and told her inquest he saw the outline of the lorry, but not the hazard lights.
PC Ross Clarkson was called to the scene and said he saw debris on the road from several collisions.
He added that visibility was only about 50m and driving conditions were "treacherous".
His statement read: "The enormity of the collision dawned on me. I could see people sat in vehicles, walking around and slumped on the ground in shock."
Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter said black ice and dense fog led to "awful" driving conditions.
However, he said he was satisfied the Highways Authority had acted responsibly in salting the roads on 27 December, the evening before the crash.
He concluded that Ms Blood had died as a result of a road traffic collision.


Europe captain Annika Sorenstam admits her team will be employing "plan B" as they seek to regain the Solheim Cup from the United States in Iowa this week.

The visitors were already underdogs for the match at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, which starts on Friday, before the loss of Suzann Pettersen, through injury.
The Norwegian is a talismanic figure for Europe, having played in the eight previous competitions, winning 57% of her matches, but her influence will now be restricted to a vice captain's role.
A back problem aggravated by some light jogging last weekend has effectively prompted a job swap with 47-year-old Scot Catriona Matthew, who had been preparing for a week as Sorenstam's assistant.
"It's been a lot of juggling, to put it mildly," the European captain admitted. "I had a plan, I called it Plan A. And then we started a Plan B."
Sorenstam also has fitness worries over her highest ranked player, world number 13 Anna Nordqvist.  The tall Swede has been suffering glandular fever and is still prone to periods of exhaustion on the course.
The skipper says she hopes there will be no need for a "Plan C" but Nordqvist admitted she found it hard work in her last tournament outing at the Ricoh Women's British Open at Kingsbarns.
"It was definitely a bit of a struggle getting through 18 holes in the weather," she said.
"But since then I've had a lot of rest and the last two weeks have been a lot better but I haven't been able to do as much practice as I usually do."
Nordqvist has been playing practice rounds punctuated by heavy thunder storms here in Des Moines. "Walking up a few hills I have to take a few extra breaths because I was a little more tired than normal," she added.
Pettersen was at the heart of the bad blood between the two sides in Germany two years ago, failing to concede a short putt picked up by American opponent Alison Lee, in an incident dubbed 'Gimmegate'.
There seems a better spirit between the teams in the build up to this match, with the US skipper Juli Inkster allowing Matthew to practice ahead of Pettersen's withdrawal on Wednesday.
"It was nice of Juli," Matthew told BBC Sport. "Normally the reserve or a vice captain wouldn't be able to play the golf course. So it was nice to get out there and play."
This is Inkster's second match as US captain after using 'Gimmegate' to inspire the American comeback from 10-6 down in the last contest.
Now Europe are seeking their own lift and avenging the loss of that dominant position is being used as a source of inspiration.
"I would say it motivates us quite a lot," said Kettering's Charley Hull, who at the age of 21 is already playing her third Solheim Cup, having won six of the eight matches she has played.
"We've got good memories from being back in America from four years ago," Hull added.  On that occasion Europe thrashed the home team by a record 18-10 at Colorado Golf Club.
Europe will have four rookies on duty including Englishwomen Georgia Hall and Florentyna Parker as well as captain's picks Emily Pedersen, of Denmark and Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom.
With 120,000 tickets already sold and record crowds predicted, they face a potentially hostile reception from American fans.
"We're not expecting any heckling, within reason," said Melissa Reid, another of the English contingent.
"We're there to embrace the crowd whether they're for us or against us, just embrace the crowd, be very respectful of the crowd.
"That's kind of the main message that Annika is getting across to us, is just enjoy this week.
"You're going to have a little bit of a hot head because you've got 190,000 Americans shouting 'U.S.A.' at you.
"But you need to respect that and just accept that that's going to happen and the quicker you adapt to that, especially for the rookies on our team, the easier it's going to be when it comes to it on Friday."
Given the current power balance, it would be wrong to bill this as a match between the best women players in the world.
Of those on show, American world number 2, Lexi Thompson, is the highest ranked player from the Asian dominated global standings.
But that will be forgotten over the three days of intense competition which still constitutes the most compelling spectacle in the women's game.
"Once the sun comes out and the matches get going, it's going to be packed," Sorenstam observed. "It's going to be an atmosphere we've never seen before."
The visitors are competing amid a backdrop of uncertainty over the future of the Ladies European Tour, which has lost seven tournaments from its schedule this year.
Their chief executive Ivan Khodabakhsh has left his post and rumours abound concerning potential takeovers by the LPGA or the men's European Tour.
Sorenstam says she does not want to be distracted by such talk.
Europe's greatest female golfer has enough on her plate using alternative strategies to try to win back this much coveted trophy.


Adam Thompson scored his first goal of the season as Southend clung on to a narrow League One win over struggling Chesterfield.

Chesterfield striker Ched Evans, who is still recovering from a foot injury, was not in the squad and did not attend the match at Roots Hall after he was found not guilty on Friday of a rape charge.
Thompson's first-half strike meant Southend move up to 19th and have won five of their last six matches at home, while Chesterfield drop to 21st.
The winner came in the 29th minute after Chesterfield failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Thompson, who smashed home from 10 yards.
Chesterfield could have levelled soon after when Kristian Dennis nipped in behind the Shrimpers defence but his lifted finish was saved by Southend goalkeeper Mark Oxley.
The hosts dominated the early part of the second half, but Nile Ranger and Simon Cox both squandered excellent opportunities.
Chesterfield substitute Ricky German almost made them pay, but his close-range effort was scrambled off the line and Southend held on for a much-needed victory.
Reports supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Southend United 1, Chesterfield 0.
Second Half ends, Southend United 1, Chesterfield 0.
Jermaine McGlashan (Southend United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Connor Dimaio (Chesterfield).
Attempt missed. Tom Anderson (Chesterfield) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Marc-Antoine Fortuné.
Attempt saved. Jermaine McGlashan (Southend United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Ben Coker.
Ryan Leonard (Southend United) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Ryan Leonard (Southend United).
Ricky German (Chesterfield) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Anton Ferdinand (Southend United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Reece Mitchell (Chesterfield).
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Jason Demetriou.
Foul by Marc-Antoine Fortuné (Southend United).
Dion Donohue (Chesterfield) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Ben Coker (Southend United).
Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Chesterfield. Connor Dimaio replaces Conor Wilkinson because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
Substitution, Southend United. Marc-Antoine Fortuné replaces Nile Ranger.
Anthony Wordsworth (Southend United) is shown the yellow card.
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Anthony Wordsworth.
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Mark Oxley.
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Adam Thompson.
Attempt blocked. Conor Wilkinson (Chesterfield) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is blocked.
Corner,  Chesterfield. Conceded by Jermaine McGlashan.
Foul by Anthony Wordsworth (Southend United).
Jon Nolan (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Tom Anderson (Chesterfield) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Simon Cox (Southend United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tom Anderson (Chesterfield).
Attempt missed. Nile Ranger (Southend United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Foul by Nile Ranger (Southend United).
Sam Hird (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Jermaine McGlashan (Southend United) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Corner,  Southend United. Conceded by Tom Anderson.
Substitution, Southend United. Jermaine McGlashan replaces Stephen McLaughlin.
Foul by Nile Ranger (Southend United).
Tom Anderson (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the attacking half.


A senior Italian cleric has been charged with laundering millions through the Vatican bank, police say.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano is already on trial and under house arrest on separate charges of plotting to smuggle 20m euros ($26m; Â£17m) into Italy.
The former Vatican accountant and two other people were served with arrest warrants on Tuesday, police said.
Last year, Pope Francis set up a commission to review the bank's activities after a series of scandals.
By David WilleyBBC News, Rome
Italian tax police released a video showing details of the monsignor's luxurious 17-room home in Salerno furnished with valuable antiques.
Vatican investigators are currently going through the bank accounts of many clerics working in areas of southern Italy, where organised crime syndicates operate.
Monsignor Scarano spent several months last year awaiting trial in Rome's Queen of Heaven prison, and was then released to house arrest for health reasons. American financial inspectors appointed by Pope Francis believe the monsignor may not be alone in having used the Vatican bank for money-laundering operations.
Traditionally the Vatican has opposed the right of the Italian judiciary to investigate alleged crimes committed by its officials on the grounds of diplomatic immunity and privilege, reports the BBC's David Willey in Rome.
But under Pope Francis, increased cooperation between the Vatican and Italian authorities led to the arrest of Monsignor Scarano last summer, our correspondent says.
On Tuesday, police seized some 6.5m euros in bank accounts and real estate, including Monsignor Scarano's luxury apartment in the southern city of Salerno.
Authorities said the latest charges against the cleric related to "false donations", which he allegedly recycled from offshore accounts through the Vatican bank.
Prosecutors allege that Monsignor Scarano got dozens of people to make contributions to a home for the terminally ill in Salerno, and used the money to pay off a mortgage on one of his properties.
Another Catholic priest has also been arrested on charges of laundering and making false statements, officials say.
Monsignor Scarano worked for two decades as a senior accountant in a Vatican department known as Apsa (the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See).
The division manages the Vatican's real estate holdings and stock portfolios.
The cleric was suspended from his position last year, after he was accused of conspiring to smuggle millions from Switzerland into Italy with the help of a secret service agent and a financial broker.
The trio's high-profile trial began in early December in Rome.
Officially known as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the Vatican bank is one of the world's most secretive. It has 114 employees and 5.4bn euros of assets.
The bank is undergoing a major restructuring on the orders of Pope Francis.
He has hired an American financial services company to examine all 19,000 accounts to ensure that international rules against money laundering are being correctly observed.


Another year of tech news is nearly over.

It has been an eventful 12 months. Samsung smartphones exploded, GoPro drones dropped out of the air and Pebble smartwatches met an untimely end.
Facebook became embroiled in a fake news controversy, Yahoo revealed several mega-breaches, we identified the supposed creator of Bitcoin - who then went AWOL - and millions indulged in a game of Pokemon Go.
Yet none of those stories made our most-read-of-the-month list - based on the number of times an article was clicked - as you can see below.
January: Licence to spy
There is a good rule of thumb: if you do not want your employer to know what you are up to online, wait until you are not on the job. And at the start of 2016, a Romanian company successfully argued it was within its rights to read Yahoo Messenger chats sent by one of its staff.
The sales engineer had claimed his privacy had been invaded as he had posted details about his health and sex life, but the European Court of Human Rights noted he had previously been warned not to send personal messages within working hours. However, later in the year, the man appealed and the case was reconsidered. The ECHR will now issue a fresh ruling in early 2017.
February: iPhone lockout
Apple clashed with the FBI when it refused to unlock an iPhone used by a murderer. Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik had killed 14 people in a shooting spree in California before being shot dead themselves. Farook's iPhone 5C was password-protected and the FBI feared that if it tried and failed to guess the combination, the device would auto-delete.
The agency demanded a bypass, but Apple refused to help saying it would set a dangerous precedent. A legal battle ensued, but then suddenly ended when the FBI declared an unnamed third party had found its own way to access the data. For now, the matter rests. But at the height of the stand-off, Donald Trump called on consumers to boycott Apple. That is likely to serve as a warning to any tech firm tempted to take a similar stance in a future dispute.
March: Amazon's shock tactics
Amazon's bosses sounded somewhat distrustful when it was reported that they had started screening videos of staff caught stealing on the job via big TVs in their US warehouses. The alleged offenders were said to have been silhouetted with the words "arrested" and "terminated" superimposed over them.
It was not the only time working conditions at the company made headlines. Earlier this month, Amazon was also accused of threatening to axe workers if they took four days off for sickness even if they had a doctor's note.
April: Google's awkward April Fool
It must have seemed like a hilarious idea. To celebrate April Fool's Day, Google added a button to its Gmail app to let users send a gif of a Minion cartoon character dropping a microphone. The meme symbolises a triumphant moment and had been popularised by rappers, actors and even a fast food chain.
So what could go wrong? Well, because of a "bug" some users reported the gif had been added even if they clicked Gmail's normal "send" button. People complained of having the yellow henchman pop up in inappropriate messages. One man even claimed it had cost him his job. Despicable Google!
May: Microsoft's "nasty trick"
As the shutters began to close on Microsoft's free Windows 10 offer, it faced a challenge. Many were ignoring its pop-up plea to upgrade and were opting instead to stick with earlier versions of the operating system.
So, in an effort to spur them on, the firm embarked on a mischievous strategy: clicking on the cross in the pop-up's top right-hand corner no longer dismissed the Windows update but triggered it instead. The move was widely denounced and Microsoft soon added a further notification message providing users with another chance to opt out before the software was installed. The firm's chief marketing officer recently acknowledged the whole affair had been "a lowlight" for all involved.
June: Shattered glass
BBC Click's Dan Simmons was invited to visit the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge ahead of its launch in China. He took a sledgehammer with him. You can view the results in the clip above. It's smashing! The bridge opened to the public in August, but was closed again a fortnight later for urgent maintenance work. We understand Dan was not to blame.
July: Self-drive death
While other car-makers talked up their self-driving vehicle plans, Tesla went ahead and deployed a restricted form of the tech. The firm described its Autopilot feature as being a "beta" test, but it faced criticism when a former Navy Seal died after his Model S car failed to recognise a tractor trailer and ploughed into it.
Weeks later, another non-fatal crash involving Autopilot occurred in the US, and then unconfirmed reports emerged from China that another motorist had died in a motorway crash while using the feature. Tesla continues to roll out updates to Autopilot and its chief executive Elon Musk says the technology has the potential to save many lives. But critics - including the German and Dutch authorities - have urged Tesla to rebrand the system to discourage drivers from putting too much trust in it.
August: Android alert
Every summer, many of the world's top hackers, cybersecurity experts and government officials descend on Las Vegas for the Defcon and Black Hat conferences. To mark the events, a flurry of new cracks and bugs are revealed as researchers compete for recognition from their peers and the wider public.
This year's break-out revelation was about flaws in software used on Android devices powered by Qualcomm chips, which could be exploited to reveal their users' data. By the time the news was made public, Qualcomm had already developed a patch and Google fixed outstanding issues in an Android update released in September.
September: Hit the road, jack
Usually new hardware is all about what has been added. But the iPhone 7 made headlines because of Apple's decision to build it without a headphone jack - a decision that took "courage" apparently. To be fair, the move helped Apple make the handset more water-resistant, and others - including Samsung - are now rumoured to be considering similar moves.
But the path to a wireless music-playing future was not totally smooth after Apple had problems getting its accompanying AirPod earphones to market after running into manufacturing issues. The hiccup has now been addressed, but a backlog in orders means many users will not be able to pop the new tech into their ear canals until the new year.
October: Snapchat slapdown
Daughters... it does not matter how powerful you are, they are still prone to gain the the upper hand. President Obama revealed on TV that his youngest child, Sasha, had recorded him "lecturing" his family on Snapchat and other social media. He said she then secretly posted her reaction - a look of boredom - to her friends via the app. The anecdote sparked a brief media frenzy as gossip writers and others sought to track down Sasha's Snapchat account, but to no avail.
November: ...now with added dongle
Apple clocked up its third "win" of the year after it offered a discount on connector adapters following criticism that its latest laptops lacked legacy ports. The firm has a habit of dropping support for historic hardware standards ahead of the competition and often before many of its consumers are ready. But this time even it acknowledged that it was surprised by the scale of the backlash it had provoked.
December: Back to the phone future
Nostalgia had a certain role to play in our last popular story of the year, as Nokia revealed that handsets emblazoned with its brand are being promoted via its website once again. The Finnish firm is not actually making the mobiles this time round - a start-up called HMD Global is taking charge - but has lent its name for a fee.
Nokia itself is more interested in virtual reality and smart health tech these days. But for many, its brand, ringtone and Snake game will be forever associated with the dawn of the mobile age. Whether or not many people will actually buy one of the existing featurephones or forthcoming Android smartphones is another matter.


England's Paul Casey trails American Rickie Fowler by one shot after round one of the US Open at Erin Hills.

Casey is joint second with Xander Schauffele but they were eclipsed by Fowler whose seven-under 65 equalled the lowest US Open first-round score.
England's Tommy Fleetwood is tied for fourth on five under with Brooks Koepka and Brian Harman, while Lee Westwood and Andrew Johnston are three under.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson is three over; Rory McIlroy is six over.
None of the world's top-six golfers posted an under-par score on a day when a US Open first-round record 44 players managed to do so after heavy rain earlier in the week softened the greens and made the fairways more forgiving.
World number three Jason Day had the worst round, signing for two triple bogeys in a seven-over 79, while Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Sweden's Open champion Henrik Stenson both finished on two over, one adrift of Jordan Spieth.
McIlroy, the 2011 champion, was returning after a month out with a rib injury and his round started in perfect fashion with an eagle-two on the par-four second after driving the green.
However a bogey followed at the third and he had two double bogeys on his back nine after hitting his ball into the thigh-deep fescue rough.
Prior to the tournament, the 28-year-old Northern Irishman had defended the severity of the rough, saying the fairways were "the widest played at a US Open" and "if we can't hit within that avenue, you might as well pack your bags and go home".
After his round, McIlroy, who hit just five fairways to tie for last in the 156-man field in that category, said: "I don't think I hit a fairway from the 10th and you cannot play this golf course if you are not in position off the tee.
"It was just one of those days. My timing was just a little bit off. I started missing some left and tried to correct it and missed a couple right."
Fowler's round, on the longest course in major championship history at 7,845 yards, equalled the record seven under totals posted by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf, who both shot 63 in the first round on the par-70 layout at Baltusrol in 1980.
He was among the early starters and knocked in three birdies on the front nine and four on the back to set a clubhouse lead that nobody really threatened.
However, the 28-year-old, who is yet to win one of golf's four majors but has finished in the top five at them all, said: "I'd rather be remembered for something that's done on Sunday.
"I didn't see seven under at the start of the week, but today is the best we are going to get. I just kept making putts when it mattered."
Casey came closest to joining him atop the leaderboard. He chipped in from 30 yards to eagle the first and he birdied three more holes on the front nine to turn at four under par.
After a bogey on the 10th, his second of the round, Casey had three birdies in his closing eight holes to move within one of the lead.
"I'm ecstatic," said the 39-year-old. "I'm over the moon with a 66. I'm feeling really, really good about this golf course. I like classic US Open courses but this is different. It has an Open Championship feel about it."
Schauffele, like his compatriot Fowler, had a bogey-free round. He had a chance to tie the lead but missed a 14-foot birdie putt on his last hole.
Fleetwood, who has missed the cut in six of his previous seven major appearances [he finished 27th at the 2015 US Open], said: "The course was as receptive as it's going to be but I never really tried to make a birdie, they just seemed to happen along the way.
"You don't really think about shooting five under at the US Open. Seven under is ridiculous."
World number one Johnson started on the 10th and had two bogeys, one double bogey and a birdie in four holes from the 14th. He parred the other 14 holes to start the defence of his US Open title with a three-over 75.
Johnson was playing with Germany's 2014 winner Martin Kaymer, who finished level par, and 2015 champion Spieth, who shot one over.
Spieth joked that he and Johnson "might have a pillow fight putting contest" after holing just one of "15 makeable birdie putts".
The 23-year-old added: "I hit the ball phenomenally, just didn't make anything. I missed one fairway , which is the best driving round that I've had maybe in my life.
"Once you get through six or seven misses the hole starts to look smaller and smaller. It just looked like I was putting at half a cup. Sometimes it looks like I'm putting to two cups."
Kevin Na had been critical of the rough earlier in the week but the American had no complaints as he signed for a four-under 68, to sit alongside compatriot Patrick Reed, Australian Marc Leishman and Canada's Adam Hadwin who tied the US Open record for most consecutive birdies when he rolled in a sixth on the fifth hole, his 14th.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia eagled the first but was unable to capitalise on his strong start and needed two birdies in his last four holes to get back to two under. South Africa's Ernie Els dropped his only shots of the day on the par-four 17th and par-five 18th as the 1994 and 97 champion also opened with a 70.
There are a total of 44 players under par - the most ever at a US Open after round one, beating the 39 at Medinah in 1990. However, none of the top 17 on the leaderboard have won a major.
Among them are South Korea's 21-year-old Si Woo Kim, who last month became the youngest player to win the Players Championship. He is three under after a round featuring five birdies and two bogeys.
English pair Westwood and Johnston ended tied for 11th but their paths were very different.
The former overcame a double bogey on the 12th, his third hole, to reach the turn in three under and then parred his way in, while Johnston mixed six birdies with three bogeys. Compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick had seven birdies in his round but a double-bogey seven checked his progress as he posted a 70.
Justin Rose said he had to "grind" his way round the course. The Olympic champion, who won this title in 2013, was one under playing the last but missed a 10-foot birdie putt and took two more to finish with a bogey and level-par 72.
Richie Ramsey looked destined to be the best Scot but he double-bogeyed the par-three ninth, his last hole, to finish one over.
Martin Laird posted a level-par 72, while fellow Scotsman Russell Knox finished one over and Wales' Bradley Dredge is two over.
England's Danny Willett, who won the 2016 Masters, birdied the par-three ninth, his last hole, but signed for a nine-over-par 81, the joint second worst score of the day.
He joked on social media that the birdie "kept me in with a sniff".


Seven workers were taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a potash mine, hundreds of metres below the sea bed.

The blaze started at the ICL UK Boulby mine in East Cleveland at 00:30 BST on Wednesday.
The workers, who were 1,100m (3,600 ft) under the sea bed and five miles (8km) from land, were treated for smoke inhalation and later discharged.
Polystyrene blocks are believed to have caught fire in the mine.
More than 100 staff were underground at the time, 11 of whom were temporarily unaccounted for, a spokesman for the mine said.
John Chilton, who has worked as a miner for 29 years and is a representative for Unite union, said an underground fire was "the biggest fear for any miner".
"People are very shaken, but miners are a very strong community and we are gathering together," he said.
The fire was extinguished and HM Inspectorate of Mines said a full investigation into the incident would be carried out.
Mining operations at the site have been temporarily suspended.
One of Europe's deepest mines, the site employs about 1,100 people.
Last year, the company announced it was shedding hundreds of jobs as part of a "new business strategy" to produce fertiliser polysulphate.


Health inspectors found dirty utility rooms at a mental health unit in Wrexham but have praised the management and patient care at the centre.

Healthcare Inspectorate Wales has just published its findings after inspecting the Heddfan Unit in April.
They said there was significant scope for improvement.
Bosses at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said they have already addressed a number of the recommendations.
The publication of the report comes after allegations were made about two mental health wards run by the health board, including the Gwanwyn ward, which is part of the Heddfan Unit.
Inspectors noted good team working on the Heddfan Unit's wards, with strong leadership and supportive management and that patients were generally complimentary about the staff.
But the report also noted some dirty utility rooms which were being used to store sterile equipment, and that some health and safety checks were not being carried out correctly.
It also said bed occupancy levels required effective monitoring to ensure patient numbers did not exceed the number of beds.
Prof Mathew Makin, health board executive medical director, said: "The majority of actions have now been completed to address the issues raised."


A fire which spread across three floors of a disused pub in Rhondda Cynon Taff has been extinguished.

South Wales Police and the fire service are investigating the cause of the blaze, at Clydach Road in Blaenclydach, at about 19:25 BST on Friday.
Three fire engines, a hydraulic platform and a water bowser tackled the fire.
There were no injuries reported.