MTV Video Music Awards: Swift leads winners as West steals spotlight with announcement of presidential aspirations

PHOTO: Taylor won four awards at the MTV Video Music Awards including video of the year for her song Bad Blood. 

Most Moonmans but it was her reunion with rapper Kanye West on the MTV Video Music Awards stage that stole the show as West declared he will run for the US presidency in 2020.

Swift led the winners with four awards including best female video and best pop video for Blank Space.

Kanye West for president

Kanye West concludes a 10-minute acceptance speech announcing he intends to run for US president in 2020.

25-year-old Swift won video of the year, the night's top award, for the star-studded music video of her revenge song Bad Blood, which is reportedly about her feud with singer Katy Perry.

"I know there's been a lot of discussion about what this video means but I'm just happy that in 2015 we live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers," Swift said.

Perry did not attend this year's awards show.

MTV's annual VMAs hand out Moonman statuettes to the year's top achievements in music videos, but is better known for delivering irreverent and unexpected moments.

West, who famously stormed the stage and snatched the microphone from Swift in 2009 during her acceptance speech, was given the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award by Swift.

"Everyone in the world knew about our infamous encounter at the VMAs, but something you may not know is Kanye West's album College Dropout is the very first album I bought on iTunes," Swift said.

MTV Video Music Awards top winners

• Video of the year - Bad Blood, Taylor Swift featuring Kenrick Lamar
• Best male video - Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
• Best female video - Blank Space, Taylor Swift
• Artist to watch - Fetty Wap
• Best pop video - Blank Space, Taylor Swift
• Best hip-hop video - Anaconda, Nicki Minaj
• Best rock video - Uma Thurman, Fall Out Boy

She added, in a parody of West's 2009 speech, "to all the other winners tonight, I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Kanye West has one of the greatest careers of all time".

After a standing ovation, West rehashed the 2009 incident along with many other musings on the authenticity of artistry.

At one point he criticised awards shows and MTV for replaying the Swift incident over and over for "more ratings".

He ended his speech by declaring, "I have decided, in 2020, to run for president", quickly riling up social media.

Sunday's show was all about the shock factor as a scantily clad Miley Cyrus, 22, cursed her way through her hosting duties, flashed her bare breast and performed a new song about smoking marijuana.

Singer Justin Bieber made a teary return to the VMA stage after a two-year break.

He performed two new tracks and teared up at the end of the performance.

New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap was named artist to watch, Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson's summer hit Uptown Funk was named best male video and Minaj's Anaconda won best hip-hop video.

Father of Toddler Killed in West Bank Firebomb Attack Has Died

Father of Toddler Killed in West Bank Firebomb Attack Died

Palestinians mourn the death of Saed Dawabsheh, 32, during his funeral procession in the West Bank village of Duma near Nablus on Aug. 8, 2015.

No one has been directly accused of involvement in the attack

(RAMALLAH, West Bank)—The father of a Palestinian toddler killed in a firebomb attack blamed on Jewish extremists has died of wounds sustained in the same incident, his family said Saturday.

In the pre-dawn attack on July 31, assailants hurled firebombs into a bedroom of the Dawabsheh family’s home in the West Bank village of Duma. Ali Dawabsheh, 18 months, perished in the flames, while his 4-year-old brother and parents were seriously hurt.

Ali’s uncle, Nasser, said the family received word early Saturday from Israel’s Soroka Medical Center that the toddler’s father, Saed, had died. Nasser Dawabsheh said the funeral would take place Saturday.

Saed Dawabsheh’s death was also confirmed by Duma’s mayor, Abdel Salam Dawabsheh.

The Soroka spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The attack prompted widespread condemnation and pledges by Israel’s government to get tougher on Jewish vigilantes who have repeatedly attacked Palestinians and their property over the years.

Several suspected Jewish extremists have been detained, but no one was directly accused of involvement in the attack.

Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups say Israeli authorities do little to enforce the law against militant settlers and that the Israeli military has largely failed to protect Palestinians against such attacks.

Many of the attacks have been part of a so-called “price tag” tactic intended to deter the dismantling of unauthorized settlement outposts that have sprung up on West Bank hilltops over the years.

There’s a New Way to Predict West Nile Virus Outbreaks

There’s New Way to Predict West Nile Virus Outbreaks

Scientists are working on a promising new model

It’s peak mosquito season in the United States, which means the risk for the mosquito-borne West Nile is up. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency sees the most cases of the disease between June and September

As of July 21, 2015, the CDC reports that 33 states have reported West Nile in people, mosquitoes or animals and there have been 23 cases of West Nile in humans. Though many people with West Nile will not develop symptoms, the disease can cause inflammation of the brain or inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal chord. Only about 1% of people will develop neurological illness from the virus. Unfortunately there are no drugs or vaccines for West Nile. Cases have been reported in every state except for Alaska and Hawaii.

Given the fact that there’s no cure or vaccine for West Nile, being able to predict when and where the disease could spread in the U.S. before it happens would be a boon for public health experts, and researchers are getting closer to that possibility. In May, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published their recent findings that showed links between the weather and incidence of West Nile virus nationwide