Pop singer Shakira welcomes baby boy

MADRID — Colombian pop singer Shakira says she has given birth to a boy, her second child with partner, Spanish football star Gerard Pique.

In a statement on her official Twitter account Friday, Shakira, 37, said Sasha Pique Mebarak was born Thursday at 9.54 p.m. in Barcelona.

The note said the name Sasha was of Greek and Russian descent and meant “defender of mankind” and “warrior.”

The statement said mother and baby were in excellent health.

The couple’s first child, Milan, a boy, was born in January 2013 in Barcelona.

Shakira and 27-year-old Pique have been a couple for the past four years.