Former Bangladesh prime minister passes away

Khaleda Zia, who was the country’s first female head of government, had been suffering from a prolonged illness

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia passed away in a Dhaka hospital on Tuesday after battling prolonged health issues, her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said in a statement.

She was the South Asian nation’s first female prime minister, serving as the head of the government from 1991 to 1996 and 2001 to 2006.