In Haiti, gang violence is still rocking the capital Port-au-Prince. We look at two very different initiatives to try to keep it in check: a basketball association working to keep kids off the streets and on the court, and a vigilante movement where civilians are taking justice into their own hands.
In Haiti, gangs continue to wreak havoc in the streets. But in recent weeks, some Haitian civilians have decided to take matters into their own hands, hunting down and killing the gang members themselves. They're calling the movement "Bwa Kale". Chloé Lauvergnier, a journalist at the FRANCE 24 Observers desk who worked on a special report about this movement, tells us more about this worrying phenomenon.
We also speak to Dave Fils-Aimé, the founder and executive director of "Basketball to Uplift the Youth" ("Baskètbòl pou Ankadre Lajenès"). He joins us from Port-au-Prince to tell us more about his NGO, which aims to use basketball as a tool to educate and mentor Haitian youth.
Meanwhile, the White House and Republicans in Congress are in a standoff over how much the US government can borrow. US federal debt currently stands at $31.4 trillion. Without raising the debt limit, the US will default on its bills – this would be a historic first with likely catastrophic consequences. Federal workers would be furloughed, global stock markets would crash and the US economy would very likely fall into a recession. With a June 1 deadline looming, time is running out to find a solution. We take a closer look at some potential scenarios ahead.
