This June 21, 2011 file photo shows Colombian singer Shakira with her boyfriend FC Barcelona Gerard Pique, left, during a plenary session at the President's Conference in Jerusalem. — AP Photo

Singer Shakira gave birth to her first child, a boy, on Tuesday in Barcelona, the Colombian pop star said on her website.

The “Hips Don't Lie” singer and her boyfriend, the Spanish football player Gerard Pique, named the six-pound, six-ounce (three kilograms) boy Milan.

“Milan (pronounced MEE-lahn) means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious, and in Sanskrit, unification,” the star said in a statement posted on her website.

“Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth,” the couple joked in a statement. Pique is a defender for Spanish La Liga runner-up FC Barcelona.

Shakira, 35, announced her pregnancy in September after bowing out of a performance in Las Vegas.

The couple last week asked fans to donate gifts such as mosquito nets and vaccines to help needy children in an online baby shower. Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Shakira has signed on to be a judge on the upcoming season of the hit singing contest “The Voice,” which is broadcast by US network NBC. She and R&B singer Usher will replace judges Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.

The singer fist met Pique, 25, in 2010, but only confirmed that they had been in a relationship in March 2011.

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...