Quality Wireless Headphones at four different price points

Wireless is the future of headphones and no amount of scepticism is going to stop that from happening. The headphone market is currently filled with quality wireless headphones, that too at different price points. So if you're gearing up to gift a brand new pair of wireless headphones to your loved ones or perhaps even yourself, then look no further than the list we've got for you.

The Budget

Anker Soundbud Slim  Price: $24.99 (Tk. 2,999)

Quality headphones within the budget category are difficult to find on account of questionable durability or middling audio profiles. So if you're planning to stay under $25, it's best to go for headphones which give you the overall bang for your limited bucks.

Mpow Flame Price: $19.99 (Tk. 1,490)

The Mpow Flame is an in-ear headphone and it comes with IPX7 water resistance meaning that it can take a good dunking in 1 meter of water for thirty minutes. The battery life is impressive with 7 to 9 hours of playtime. The highs and mids come through very clearly on but the bass is however a little low on these headphones. The Mpow Flame is made for avid runners, sporting a flexible rubber grip above the earpiece for support, with all of the buttons fashioned on the earbuds.

The Anker Soundbud Slims sound solid when even comparing against the giants of the industry. It comes with IPX5 water resistance making it fully sweat resistant. The headphones come with Bluetooth 4.1 and a 7 hour battery life. While the Anker Soundbud Slims have a very minimal look to them, there is nothing minimal about the sound profile. There is a good amount of bass and the highs and mids are clean with minimal distortion. It is hard to recommend them to those who want to pair them with high intensity sports however. The headphones have the tiniest in-ear hooks which provide very minimal may support compared to the Mpow Flame's large over the ear hooks.

 Options – Basically $25

Budget Premiums – $50 to $100

A rather murky territory this one – goliaths like Sony, Sennheiser or Bose won't tread here nor will Chinese budget kings Meizu or Mpow. But there are a couple of great headphones to be had at this price point.

Skullcandy Crusher  Price:$99.95 (Tk. 13,900)

Now the Skullcandy Crushers are infamous for the heavy bass sound profile, going as far as having a manual slider for bass on one of the earcups. The design of these headphones is very industrial with an all black look with a white model with gold earcups available as well. Skullcandy claims that the headphones have a battery life of 40 hours with 2.5 hours needed for a full charge. The bass is very noticeable on these headphones and do sometimes end up muddling up the overall texture as well. But these headphones are an acquired taste and they shine through with hip-hop or rap music.

Jaybird X3 Price: $89.00

One of the best Bluetooth headphones of 2016, the Jaybird X3 is still relevant if not more popular. The headphones feature a small rubber hook on each earbud which will provide you with a nice grip when you're out for a run. The Jaybird X3 has the distinct Jaybird sound – nothing sounds too overpowering and all the instrumentations sing out individually and the bass doesn't feel too heavy. Its biggest drawback is the proprietary charging dock which you can't ever lose or forget to bring with you on trips.

TaoTronics Bh22 Price: $68.99

The TaoTronics BH22 is very portable for a beefy pair of headphones. It has 25 hours of battery life and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. There is a little audio video desync sometimes, but nothing too noticeable. The sound is balanced with the bass being not too overpowering. The mids and highs don't have any searing effects to them either.

Budget with Benefits – $25 to $50

Once you cross the $25 threshold you'll start to notice how there are a lot of headphones which hit the right markers but with an added bonus, making them good for their price points. points.

Avantree Audition

Price: $44.99

This over-ear headphone has around 40 hours of battery life on a full charge. The Avantree Audition comes with a clear treble profile and a rich bass sound which doesn't muffle the other octaves. If wireless isn't your game then the headphones also have an input for a cable with 3.55mm headphone jack support. 

Meizu Ep52

Price: $40.99 (Tk. 3,450)

The Meizu EP52 comes with magnetic earbuds where you can stop the music, hang up the phone call and initiate automatic shutdown after 5 minutes, just by bringing the earbuds together. It comes with aptX audio enhancement technology meaning that the sound quality will be very rich when compared to its competitors at this price point. The in-ear EP52 has a tiny clasp on top of the earbuds which can fit into your ear unobtrusively as opposed to the hooks on the Mpow Flame or Hussar Magicbuds. Its only downside would be the bulky volume controls and the unattractive neckband. 

The True Premiums – $100 to $200

While the headphones listed above get the job done and have some quality of life features, headphones above a $100 are made for the purest of audiophiles. If you've got the money or the enthusiasm, then perhaps it's time you pair your new flagship smartphone with these headphones.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H4 Price: $199.00 (Tk. 26,500)

Now if you're looking for headphones in this price range, then you are already aware of the Sony WH-1000XM2 or Bose QC25 or QC35s. But it is definitely worth taking a look at Bang & Olufsen's Beoplay H4 because of its standout audio profiles. The H4's low end responses are tight as opposed the thumping feeling you get from most headphones. The vocals sound crisp and the overall sound is bright and balanced. And if you want to play around with the textures yourself, then you can do so from the Beoplay app for Android and iOS. It comes with four preset sound profiles and it will adjust the highs and mids accordingly. The headphones come with 19 hours of battery life. These headphones however don't come with a carrying case nor does it have Active Noise Cancellation like the Sony and Bose headphones.

Sennheiser HD 4.50BTNC

Price: $179.95

The Sennheiser HD 4.50BTNC's are one of the cheapest headphones out there to include Active Noise Cancelling. While the noise cancelling isn't as powerful as the ones you would find on other higher end headphones, the Sennheiser's can block out most environmental noise and drown out conversation or music playing in the background. It comes with 19 hours of battery life with Bluetooth and Noise cancellation activated. Another neat feature is that it features NFC, meaning that you can connect your smartphones via NFC.

Modern hospital replaces bamboo clinic in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp

Health services for people affected by the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh received a boost this week, when IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched two major new health facilities in Cox’s Bazar.

A new USD 240,000, 33-room in-patient hospital now stands on the site of what was formerly a small medical post constructed from bamboo and tarpaulins, an IOM press release said.

The hospital in Madhurchara, Ukhiya, is the first to offer in-patient services to Rohingyas and members of the host community living in a particularly densely populated part of the camp. There are 20 beds for patients admitted and staying overnight.

The facility will also provide maternity services to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services; a specialised pediatric care unit for children up to the age of 12; a specialized unit for the care of new- borns; and complex laboratory services.

According to Dr Andrew Mbala, IOM Health Emergency Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar, the hospital will ease pressure on the Cox’s Bazar district hospital, which was designed to accommodate 250 in-patients, but often must host up to twice that number.

Another new primary health care facility was also opened by IOM in the camp this week, in close collaboration with the Bangladeshi health authorities, who will eventually take over its management and provision of services.

The USD 120,000 clinic, which will also provide mental health and psychosocial support, will serve people living in one of the areas of the camp most prone to landslides and flooding.

Together the facilities will serve catchment areas totalling around 73,000 people from the Rohingyas and local communities. Almost a million Rohingyas now live in camps, often in very poor conditions.

“In-patient services and comprehensive primary health care are currently a big gap in the Rohingya camp and these facilities will allow us to provide comprehensive care,” said Dr Mbala.

The opening ceremonies this week were attended by senior Bangladeshi officials and representatives of donor governments Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Julia Niblett opened the two facilities.

Prof AHM Enayet Hossain, Additional Director General of Bangladesh’s Health Department, described trying to meet the health needs of hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Rohingya people at the height of the crisis as “a nightmare.”

But more than a year later, “the nightmare was over” and, by working in partnership with organizations such as IOM, “the dream” of providing better healthcare was “step by step” becoming a reality, he noted.

“These inaugurations mark the start of a significant and important new phase in IOM’s long-term commitment to working with the government of Bangladesh to increase and improve health service provision within the host and refugee communities here in Cox’s Bazar,” said IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission Giorgi Gigauri.

Bangladesh police to grill man for ‘running fake news websites’ as election nears

A Dhaka court has granted police three days to grill a man in custody for his alleged involvement in spreading fake news through websites similar in look to different news publishers.

The Rapid Action Battalion or RAB arrested Enamul Haque, a PhD student of a South Korean university, on Saturday.

The RAB said Enamul, an operative of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student front Islami Chhatra Shibir, ran at least 22 such fake websites and used to donate most of the money from the sites to the organisation's fund.

Police started a case against him under the Digital Security Act at Kamalapur Railway Police Station.

On Sunday, Judicial Magistrate Rajib Hasan granted three days when investigator Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman produced Enamul in the court and sought a 10-day remand.

Enamul sought bail but the judge rejected his plea, court police’s Inspector Md Asaduzzaman told bdnews24.com.According to case dossier, Enamul published the fake news by counterfeiting websites to belittle the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and members of her cabinet.

As fears over spread of fake news have grown ahead of the general elections, several news publishers recently alleged that their websites had been faked with almost the same look, but extra letters in the URL or address of their website.

The information ministry’s rumour identification and prevention cell also recently identified fake news on the Bangabandhu satellite that went viral on the social media.

The report titled “Bangabandhu satellite went missing” on the social media and other online portals is a rumour, according to a statement from the ministry.

The Election Commission is set to meet on Monday with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and mobile operators to prevent violations of the election code of conduct on the social media platforms, including Facebook.

Deepika`s next with Meghna Gulzar to release in March

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone got married at Lake Como in Italy on the 14th and 15th November. The couple tied the knot according to Konkani traditions and also took their nuptial vows in the Anand Karaj ceremony. The two recently held their first reception in Bengaluru and will be hosting two more wedding receptions in Mumbai.
On the work front, the couple haven't been seen on the big screen after Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat which released at the beginning of the year. While Ranveer has already a big line up of films coming up which include Simmba, Gully Boy, 83 and Takht, it seems that Deepika too is all set to get the ball rolling.
A report in a leading daily claims that the actress will begin shooting for the Meghna Gulazar directorial in March. While talking to the leading daily, Meghna revealed that she has been busy trying to bring more shape to the story of the film which is based on an acid attack survivor. She also added that she was glad that people think that this is an important subject and awareness must be raised on the disastrous affect that a person faces after an acid attack.

Police to beef up security for Shah Rukh Khan after threats

The commissionerate police on Saturday said that adequate security measures will be taken for the visit of Shah Rukh Khan to Odisha after the Kalinga Sena threatened to throw ink on his face.

The Kalinga Sena, a fringe outfit in Odisha, has threatened to throw ink on the actor's face for distorting history in his film "Ashoka" that was released 17 years ago.

It also threatened to show him black flags on his arrival during the inauguration of the Men's Hockey World cup scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on November 27.

"We will take adequate security measures for the visit of Shah Rukh Khan during hockey world cup. However, the schedule of the actor is yet to be reached," said Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahu.

Hemant Rath, the chief of the outfit, demanded an apology from Shah Rukh for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Odisha people in "Asoka".

The outfit alleged that the film dishonoured the state's culture and its people by portraying the Kalinga war in a wrong manner.Khaleej Times.

Putting stalled malaria control efforts back on track

Reductions in malaria cases have stalled after several years of decline globally, according to the new World malaria report 2018. To get the reduction in malaria deaths and disease back on track, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and partners are joining a new country-led response to scale up prevention and treatment, and increased investment, to protect vulnerable people from the deadly disease.

The report reveals a plateauing in numbers of people affected by malaria: in 2017, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria, compared to 217 million the year before. But in the years prior, the number of people contracting malaria globally had been steadily falling, from 239 million in 2010 to 214 million in 2015.

Where malaria is hitting hardest

In 2017, approximately 70% of all malaria cases (151 million) and deaths (274,000) were concentrated in India and other 10 African countries. There were 3.5 million more malaria cases reported in these 10 African countries in 2017 compared to the previous year, while India, however, showed progress in reducing its disease burden.

High impact response needed

In line with WHO’s strategic vision to scale up activities to protect people’s health, the new country-driven “High burden to high impact” response plan has been launched to support nations with most malaria cases and deaths. The response is based on four pillars:

•             Galvanising national and global political attention to reduce malaria deaths;

•             Driving impact through the strategic use of information;

•             Establishing best global guidance, policies and strategies suitable for all malaria endemic countries; and

•             Implementing a coordinated country response.

Catalysed by WHO and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, “High burden to high impact” builds on the principle that no one should die from a disease that can be easily prevented and diagnosed, and that is entirely curable with available treatments.

Pockets of progress

In 2018, WHO certified Paraguay as malaria free, the first country in the Americas to receive this status in 45 years. Three other countries — Algeria, Argentina and Uzbekistan — have requested official malaria-free certification from WHO.

India — a country that represents 4% of the global malaria burden — recorded a 24% reduction in cases in 2017 compared to 2016. Also in Rwanda, 436 000 fewer cases were recorded in 2017 compared to 2016. Ethiopia and Pakistan both reported marked decreases of more than 240 000 in the same period.

Domestic financing is key

As reductions in malaria cases and deaths slow, funding for the global response has also shown a levelling off, with US$ 3.1 billion made available for control and elimination programmes in 2017 including US$ 900 million (28%) from governments of malaria endemic countries.  The United States of America remains the largest single international donor, contributing US$ 1.2 billion (39%) in 2017.

To meet the 2030 targets of the global malaria strategy, malaria investments should reach at least US$6.6 billion annually by 2020 — more than double the amount available today.

No doctors, nurses or painkillers: surviving pregnancy in Venezuela

Yoli Cabeza was sent from one hospital to another before finally giving birth to her daughter Yusmari in the corridor of a maternity ward because her contractions came quicker than medical help.

The 37-year-old was diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy but that didn't spare her from Venezuela's medical "roulette" – the practice of referring patients from hospital to hospital due to a lack of personnel, supplies or sanitary conditions.

Cabeza told Agence France-Presse (AFP) she "did the tour of every hospital in" Ciudad Guyana, the biggest town in the state of Bolivar, before returning to the place she started at, the Negra Hipolita maternity unit where "they took me in."

Incredibly, her case isn't rare in a country where many women are forced to give birth in the street because they can't get into a state medical facility.

At the beginning of November, a woman was filmed giving birth to her son squatting by a tree in front of the biggest hospital in Bolivar.

Venezuela is in the midst of an economic meltdown triggered by mismanagement and a slump in oil prices followed by US sanctions. 

The United Nations says some 2.3 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015 and amongst them have been many doctors.

Bring your own supplies

According to a study by a dozen non-profits, some 22,000 doctors, more than half the former total, emigrated between 2012 and 2017.

Added to that, more than 6,000 nurses (74% of that industry's workforce) and 6,600 lab technicians have left while there's a shortage of 90% of necessary medicines and supplies.

Often, patients are turned away "because there are no surgical materials, no anesthesiologists. They don't even have chlorine to clean the cubicles," said Silvia Bolivar, a nurse at Concepcion Palacios, the biggest maternity unit in the capital Caracas.

Pregnant women are sometimes expected to bring their own disinfectant and garbage bags.

Venezuela has been suffering from 4 years of recession in which poverty is on the rise as food has become short in supply.

A caesarean section kit costs the equivalent of $100 at the black market rate while the minimum wage is 1,800 bolivars ($6) a month.

Inflation, which the International Monetary Fund predicts will reach 1.35 million% this year has crippled the currency as United States sanctions saw foreign investment dry up.

Surging infant mortality

The effect on pregnant women has been devastating.

Yusmari Vargas, 24, was suffering from preeclampsia, a condition marked by high blood pressure that can develop into a more serious one that puts both the mother and baby's lives at risk.

When she arrived at the maternity unit, it was closed. The hours passed, the contractions became stronger and her baby ended up on the floor, welcomed into the world with a bump to its head.

"When he fell, they didn't even help me pick him up, there was nothing to cut the umbilical cord. It was a mess," she said.

Carolina Rojas, 22, almost lost her daughter after her caesarian section was postponed several times.

"One day there was no specialist, the next the pediatrician or the anesthesiologist didn't turn up," said Rojas.

Her daughter swallowed amniotic fluid and spent 8 days in hospital after she was born.

Infant mortality rose 30% in 2016, with the deaths of 11,466 babies up to a year old, according to the latest Health Ministry figures.

Despite refusing to acknowledge the country's public health problems, President Nicolas Maduro launched a program to reduce the number of caesarian section births, but a year later he admitted it hadn't provided the expected results.

'Terrible year'

Suffering from post-natal pain, 32-year-old Yohanni Guarayote forced her way into the Negra Hipolita maternity unit, which locks its doors at night due to crime in the area.

She was only able to have two prenatal check-ups because she couldn't pay for a private clinic as her husband is unemployed.

"Some days the doctor didn't turn up, others there was no water, and so on," she said.

Her arms are so thin they look like a child's. During the pregnancy, she barely reached 43 kilograms (95 pounds), eating mostly sardines, yucca and squash.

"Now, I'm like a stick," she said, reclining in a sweltering room with 6 beds but no sheets.

She receives government subsidies but with another 3 children to feed, she says it's "not enough."

"This year has been terrible for pregnant women. They need to show more love to motherhood."