DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia left the nation's capital for London on Tuesday for medical treatment, said one of her advisers.
Zahiruddin Swapan, an adviser to Zia, told The Associated Press by phone that the three-time former premier and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport late Tuesday on an air ambulance.
“Our senior leaders left the airport seeing her off,” Swapan said.
Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, according to her physician.
Zia left behind a South Asian nation grappling with uncertainty over its political future after her archrival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August. Zia and Hasina are the most influential political leaders in Bangladesh.
An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is running the country and plans to hold elections in December this year or in the first half of 2026.
Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases stemming from 2001-2006 when she was prime minister. Her supporters say the charges against her were politically motivated, an allegation Hasina’s administration denied. Under Yunus, Zia was acquitted in one of the cases in November and an appeal in the second case was being heard on Tuesday.
Zia, 79, was freed from prison on bail under Hasina through a government order and had been undergoing medical treatment in Bangladesh. But Hasina’s administration did not allow her to travel abroad for treatment despite requests seeking approval.
The special air ambulance was sent by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Hundreds of her supporters gathered outside her residence in the city's upscale Gulshan area to see her off.
Zia’s motorcade took nearly three hours to cross about a 10-kilometer (6-mile) stretch of road to get to the airport from her residence in Dhaka’s Gulshan area as thousands of her desperate supporters greeted her on the way, creating traffic chaos. Her hours-long journey to the airport was broadcast live by television stations.
Enamul Haque Chowdhury, a close aide of Zia, told reporters that the air ambulance had arrived from Doha to take her to London, where her eldest son and heir apparent Tarique Rahman has been in exile since 2007. Rahman is the acting chairman of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and is expected to lead the party toward the election. The country’s dynastic politics have long focused on the families of Hasina and Zia.
Zia is the wife of late President Ziaur Rahman, a former military chief. He rose to prominence during years of tumultuous politics after Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's independence leader, was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup in 1975. Zia's husband was also killed in 1981 in another military coup after he formed his political party and ruled the country as president for three years. Hasina's father led Bangladesh's independence war against Pakistan, aided by India, in 1971.
Zia’s personal physician, A.Z.M. Zahid Hossain, said Qatar’s emir arranged the special aircraft with medical facilities for the former prime minister, whose ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems.
Her departure follows dramatic political developments since last August, when Hasina’s 15-year rule ended. Hasina fled into exile in India as she and her close aides faced charges of killing hundreds of protesters during a mass protest movement that began in July.
Zia’s departure could create a symbolic vacuum in the country’s politics amid efforts by a student group that led the anti-Hasina protest to form a new political party. In the absence of Hasina and her secular Bangladesh Awami League party, the rise of Islamist political parties and other Islamist groups has been visible in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.
Zia's party has been bargaining with the Yunus-led government for an election sometime this year. Yunus said his government wants to make some major reforms before the election.
Bangladesh's ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, right, leaves in a car on her way to the airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to travel to London for medical treatment, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Supporters of Bangladesh's ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia shout slogans before Zia left Dhaka, Bangladesh, to travel to London for medical treatment, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
FILE- Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia, center, leaves after a court appearance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad, File)
One person died and two others were pulled from the wreckage of a partially collapsed church on Friday, after severe storms including a possible tornado swept through St. Louis.
Several other people were reported injured after the Friday afternoon storms, which tore roofs off some buildings, ripped bricks off of siding and downed trees and power lines as residents were urged to take cover.
At Centennial Christian Church, City of St. Louis Fire Department Battalion Chief William Pollihan told The Associated Press that three people had to be rescued after part of the church crumbled. One of those people died.
National Weather Service radar indicated that a tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. It received reports of damages, mostly downed trees, weather service meteorologist Marshall Pfahler said.
The apparent tornado touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World’s Fair and Olympic Games the same year, Pfahler said.
The St. Louis Zoo posted a message on X, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter, that it would remain closed for the rest of the day because of the weather. The post included no information on damages, a zoo spokesperson didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
“We can’t definitively say whether or not it was a tornado -- it likely was,” Pfahler said.
Radar confirmed a tornado above Venice, Illinois, about 2:50 p.m. CDT. It could be accompanied by golf ball-size hail, the National Weather Service in St. Louis said. Venice is northeast of St. Louis, just across the Mississippi River.
The weather service described the tornado as “extremely dangerous” and moving east at 50 mph. The tornado is part of a severe weather system that spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, downed trees, left thousands without power in the Great Lakes region and brought a punishing heat wave to Texas.
Weather forecasters warned that severe storms with hail and even hurricane-force winds also could hobble parts of Appalachia and the Midwest on Friday. Tornadoes were also a risk there.
The National Weather Service said severe weather was likely across parts of the central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic states. Residents in Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, parts of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio should brace for intense storms that could include baseball-sized hail.
The weather service's Storm Prediction Center said that “strong, potentially long-track tornadoes and very large hail” could be expected. The threat for damaging winds in excess of 75 mph will increase into this evening as storms grow into larger clusters.
Ahead of Friday night’s anticipated storm, Appalachian Power, which serves 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, said Friday it requested 1,700 additional workers from neighboring utilities along with sending its own crews from unaffected areas to assist with service restoration.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, in a post on the social media platform X, put residents on notice.
“Kentucky, there is a dangerous weather system moving through our state with a significant round this afternoon through tonight. Strong winds, hail, flooding and tornadoes are possible starting at 2 p.m. CT in Western Kentucky and reaching Louisville around 5 p.m. ET,” he said.
Shelters were opening in the Paducah, Kentucky, area.
Faith Borden, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service Nashville office, said Friday that middle Tennessee could expect "all types of severe weather. Winds up to 70 mph. We’re talking seriously large hail up to 3 inches, which for us is big hail.”
Texas, meanwhile, faced searing heat. A heat advisory was issued for the San Antonio and Austin, with temperatures at a blistering 95 F (35 C) to 105 (40.5 C). Parts of the southern East Coast, from Virginia to Florida, battled with heat in the 90s.
The National Weather Service Office for Austin/San Antonio said Friday the humidity coming in over the weekend is expected to make temperatures hotter.
“There are concerns of heat exhaustion for people that aren’t taking proper precautions when they’re outdoors,” meteorologist Jason Runyen said. He advised those affected to take breaks and stay hydrated.
Overnight Thursday, storms accompanied by booming thunder, lightning displays and powerful winds swept through parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, northern Indiana and Michigan — leaving scores of trees down and thousands of homes without power.
Several tornadoes touched down Thursday in central Wisconsin. None of the twisters have received ratings yet, said Timm Uhlmann, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Green Bay.
“We’re still gathering reports,” Uhlmann said. “We’re assessing some of the damage and still getting video and pictures. The damage that we have is fairly widespread. There was a lot of large hail. In Eau Claire was one report of softball-sized hail.”
No injuries have been reported.
Surveys also were underway Friday of damage in Michigan to determine if any tornadoes touched down there, said Steven Freitag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, northwest of Detroit.
The storms were fueled by temperatures in the lower 80s that stretched from Illinois into Michigan and were activated by a cold front that pushed through, Freitag said.
By midday Friday, about 230,000 customers were without power in Michigan. An estimated 60,000 were without power in Indiana. Another 27,000 in total had no electricity in Illinois and Kentucky.
The threat of severe weather in Chicago delayed a Beyonce concert by about two hours Thursday at Soldier Field.
Associated Press writer Haya Panjwani in Washington and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this story.
Cody Sparks, left, and Eric Combs with Lewis Tree Service work to clear a tree off of a power line near on 92nd Street near Caledonia, Mich. on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
Zeeland resident Maddie Pellegrini clears debris outside her family's home on 64th Avenue in Drenthe east of Zeeland, Mich. on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Isaac Ritchey/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A snapped utility pole stands awkwardly off of 92nd Street near Caledonia, Mich. on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree is uprooted from Thursday night's storm in Trail Creek, Ind., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Downed trees are shown blocking Leo and Oakland Avenues in Trail Creek, Ind., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
A snapped tree is shown up against an apartment on Salem Court in Michigan City, Ind. on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Damage from Thursday's storm is shown along U.S. 20 in Michigan City, Ind., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Donavan Barrier /La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Trees lay in a playground in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree branch covers a bus in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree lays in a parking lot in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
A tree lays on a house in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
