Antipoverty advocate Global Citizen hopes the World Cup halftime show drives money for education

NEW YORK (AP) — The antipoverty nonprofit Global Citizen is no stranger to big stages. The advocacy group rallied more than 60,000 festivalgoers at its Central Park concert last year around issues of rainforest protection and energy access.

But Global Citizen is preparing for its most ambitious production yet: the first-ever FIFA World Cup halftime show on July 19, curated with help from Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin. Super Bowl-style performances — uncommon in soccer — will feature Madonna, Shakira and BTS. Also Thursday, Shakira released the official World Cup song “Dai Dai” featuring Afrobeats giant Burna Boy.

Organizers plan to direct the tournament's billions of projected viewers worldwide toward a humanitarian initiative launched alongside soccer's international governing body. Leveraging what Global Citizen founder Hugh Evans called the “complementary” unifying powers of soccer and music, the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund aims to raise $100 million for grassroots groups providing underserved children with access to education and sports.

“I hope that on the world’s biggest stage, finally, the importance of investing in education steals the show,” Shakira told the Global Citizen NOW summit in New York on Thursday. Later, she told The Associated Press in an interview that she wanted to help the “many children who are being left behind.”

"That should be our first concern,” Shakira said. “I’m so excited that finally we’re gonna use a global event like this one as a platform to discuss what’s most important: kids’ education.”

That push could be complicated, however, by the staggering cost of match attendance. A dollar from every World Cup ticket sale will go toward the education fund. But with tickets selling for four- to five-figures, not to mention the high price of travel and lodging, some host cities are lowering their attendance expectations.

Further complicating that humanitarian image are FIFA's agreements with countries such as Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth fund became an official World Cup supporter on Thursday. Critics say the kingdom uses sports to distract from its human rights record.

And the message of unity could be hindered by FIFA President Gianni Infantino's connection to President Donald Trump, whose restrictive immigration policies and recent military pursuits amount to what critics consider an unwelcoming environment atypical of an international sporting event.

Infantino awarded FIFA’s new peace prize to Trump in December. Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, was also appointed to the education fund's board.

Evans is not focused on politics, though. “I’m a pragmatist," he told the AP. “I’ve always believed that if we can do something so unbelievably positive, it has the potential to unite people at a time when the world needs it most.”

The summit's speakers emphasized their ability to build cross-sector support for causes like the education fund. The annual spring gathering draws entertainers, business executives and world leaders to discuss shared solutions to ending extreme poverty, oftentimes aligned with the United Nations’ ambitious list of “sustainable development goals” ranging from eliminating hunger to achieving gender equality.

They've raised $47 million so far for the education fund, according to a Thursday announcement. Corporate sponsors Bank of America, MetLife and Cisco put in $15 million between them, according to Evans. MetLife is donating an additional $5 for every video that fans post online of themselves juggling a soccer ball with the hashtag #FootworkForFutures.

Indian education entrepreneur Sunny Varkey and his Varkey Foundation contributed $3 million. Also being donated are ticket proceeds from The Weeknd’s high-grossing world tour as well as the joint tour recently announced by Usher and Chris Brown. Shakira announced Thursday she will donate 100% of her “Dai Dai” proceeds plus $1 from every ticket to her newly expanded tour in the United States.

Evans is now turning to heads of state for more financial support. He invited existing or future World Cup host countries to supplement funding.

“It has the potential to say to the whole world: We are global citizens... We’re all on this amazing planet together. Let’s solve the world’s biggest problems together," Evans said, adding that the move can foster a human approach rather than a “nationalistic” one.

Evans cited the 27 inaugural FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund grantees, released earlier this week, as inspiration. Among the recipients was Hit the Books, a Harlem-based nonprofit that uses mixed martial arts as the hook to provide students with additional educational resources.

The grants range from $50,000 to $250,000. Jhae Thompson, executive director of Hit the Books, said the support is meaningful because many nonprofits support hundreds of children on incredibly small budgets.

“What we are really leveraging is the foundation of what a young person needs in order to build character, to build discipline, to build confidence,” Thompson told the Global Citizen NOW audience.

Global Citizen has pursued partnerships in new regions as traditional actors including the U.S. cut their international aid budgets. That expansion includes the Middle East, represented by the addition of 2PointZero Group Vice Chair and Managing Director Mariam AlMheiri to their board.

AlMheiri, who heads the International Affairs Office at the Presidential Court of the United Arab Emirates, emphasized that “when you look at a football, everyone's happy" — a positive association she hopes will translate into support for the education fund.

Marcus Samuelsson, a multiple James Beard Award-winning chef and avid soccer fan, noted that this World Cup is spread across three different countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada. The tournament, he added, has expanded from its origins as a competition largely between South American and European nations to represent countries in Africa and Asia, too.

He hopes that wide geographic spread inspires curiosity about global issues.

“You start thinking about these countries. You maybe want to go there on vacation, maybe you want to go there, volunteer and help out. Whatever gets you going,” Samuelsson told AP. "And it can start by falling in love while watching them.”

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Shakira enters for a panel on the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament halftime show at the Global Citizen NOW summit, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Former Brazilian soccer star Kaká, holding a World Cup trophy, enters for a panel on the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament halftime show during the Global Citizen NOW summit, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks on a panel on the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament halftime show during the Global Citizen NOW summit, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

From left, Kaká, Hugh Evans, Shakira, and Gianni Infantino pose for a photo after a panel on the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament halftime show during the Global Citizen NOW summit, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors said they were at loggerheads Friday in Harvey Weinstein 's rape retrial, but a judge told the panel to keep trying for a verdict in the closely watched #MeToo-era case that another jury failed to decide last year.

The signs of stalemate emerged a few hours into the third day of deliberations. Jurors sent a note saying they “have concluded that they cannot reach” a unanimous verdict. Judge Curtis Farber instructed the group to continue deliberating. That's generally what New York judges do at least the first time a jury says it's stuck.

Jurors then returned to their closed-door discussions. They're tasked with deciding whether Weinstein — the former movie mogul who became a symbol of the #MeToo movement's campaign against sexual misconduct — raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013.

An appeals court overturned his 2020 New York conviction on charges that involved Mann and another accuser. At a retrial last year, jury deliberations broke down amid infighting on Mann’s portion of the case, leading to this current retrial. Weinstein is charged with one count of rape in the third degree.

Mann, 40, has testified that she willingly had some sexual interludes with the then-married producer, but that he subjected her to unwanted sex that day after she repeatedly said no.

Weinstein's lawyers maintain that the encounter was consensual. They have emphasized that Mann subsequently continued seeing Weinstein and expressing warmth toward him. Mann has said she was mired in complicated feelings about him, herself and what had happened.

Her viewpoint changed in 2017, when a series of allegations against the Oscar-winning Weinstein propelled #MeToo. Some of those accusations generated criminal convictions against Weinstein in New York and California.

Weinstein, 74, has said he “acted wrongly” but never assaulted anyone.

The current jury heard nearly three weeks of testimony, five days of it from Mann. Weinstein did not testify.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted. Mann, however, has agreed to be named.

Harvey Weinstein appears with attorney Marc Agnifilo in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears with attorneys Marc Agnifilo, left, and Jacob Kaplan in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in New York. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)