Taylor Swift, Tops Surprise! U2

The country-pop singer Taylor Swift of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

The country-pop singer and songwriter's new single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," out now digitally and unveiled yesterday during an online video chat, is swaying, cheeky, hyper-melodic pop that recalls the ear-sticking effervescence of a certain Carly Rae Jepsen smash.

Only Swift's track is based around acoustic guitar strums rather than string sounds, and the theme is pure, fiery, woman-scorned Swift, atop a stomping beat that's the closest the now-22-year-old has come to dance-pop and R&B she might've heard on the radio growing up.

Swift just pulled Pavement-dissing-Smashing Pumpkins in reverse. Ouch.

The ever-unsuspecting songstress pulled in more than Bono and Gaga.

Sometimes it's nice to think about professional musicians as dedicated artistes regaling us with their melodies for the sheer joy of musical performance. Then the illusion-crushing annual Billboard Money Makers list drops and fans everywhere get to see how filthy rich even the most adorable of their favorite artists really are. This year, based on the amount of money made in 2011,

The millions reportedly made by Taylor and her 39 list mates don't even reflect the profits the artists made via film and TV syncs or branding deals, which makes the list an underestimation at best.

Birthday in tears

Birthday celebration in tears

Two T-shirts, far left, meant for the surprise 19th birthday celebration of slain Tipu Sultan. Father, sister and mother of slain college student Kamruzzaman Kanto shed tears, top, together at their home in Darussalam in the capital Dhaka. His birthday was yesterday.

His sister bought two new T-shirts and was planning to order a cake for his 19th birthday. The family made all the preparations to give him a big surprise that birthday party turned into a home of mourning yesterday.

Tipu Sultan, one of the six students beaten to death by a mob on Monday, was only two days away from his 19th birthday.

“We didn't tell him anything, as we wanted to surprise him,” said his sister Anar Koli, a Dhaka University student.

“What am I going to do with these T-shirts?” she asked reporters at their Shyamoli residence in the capital and broke into tears.

 “Since Tipu was the youngest [among two brothers and a sister] my mother often fed him with her own hands,” said Sheikh Farid, Tipu's elder brother.

Several hundred students and teachers of Tejgaon College also formed a human chain in front of the college protesting the killing of Tipu Sultan, a first year student of management department. They called for punishment of his killers.

College Principal Prof Abdur Rashid told the media that Tipu was an innocent boy.

 “On his birthday, we demand punishment of Tipu's killers,” said Sumon Mahmud, his friend from the college.

 “None of my boys were robbers. They were never involved in any kind of criminal activities,” he said. “We want proper investigation so that the actual fact is unearthed paving the way for justice.”

“Why my son was killed in this way? He is one of the brilliant students of English medium and he was not involved in any kind of crimes. I want justice,” his father Aminur Rahim said.

Hundreds of people broke into tears seeing his body. his mother said. “My son was innocent; he has never done anything wrong.” He was buried on Monday night.