4.1 Magnitude earthquake shakes Esterhazy and area

A small earthquake struck just east of Esterhazy Thursday evening.

The United States Geological Survey confirms a 4.1 magnitude quake hit the region 17 kilometres east of the town at 8:30 p.m.

The epicenter of the quake was located just outside of Mosaic’s K2 Potash mine.

SaskPower reports several communities in the area including Esterhazy, Whitewood, Moosomin, Rockanville Wapella and Tantallon experienced power outages, but power was restored a few hours later.

It is unknown at this time if the earthquake is responsible.

Tango World Cup 2019 in Buenos Aires

Every August, tango comes home to Buenos Aires, the city where it was born and where many say its soul still resides.

The world’s best dancers are in Buenos Aires for the Tango World Cup.

And for everyone else, a series of events celebrates what is considered one of the most expressive and difficult dances to master.

Al Jazeera’s Daniel Schweimler put on his dancing shoes and went along.

Meeting Writers and Artists

The East Hampton Library held its Authors Night fund-raiser on Aug. 10 in Amagansett, N.Y.; book signings under a grand tent were followed by dinners in private homes. And Guild Hall in East Hampton, N.Y. celebrated the artist Ugo Rondinone at its summer benefit on Aug. 9.

US home construction fell 4% in July

U.S. housing starts fell 4.0% in July, driven by a decline in the construction of apartment buildings.

The Commerce Department said Friday that housing starts slipped last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million units. So far this year, housing starts have declined 3.1%. While there was a slight 1.3% uptick in the construction of single-family homes last month, the gain was offset by a 17.2% drop in the apartment category.

The construction slowdown is thwarting prospective homebuyers. The solid job market and falling mortgage rates have boosted interest among people seeking homes, yet the inventory shortage and rising prices have stifled sales.

The July construction report suggests that builders are possibly preparing for more renters.

Applications for housing permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 8.4% to an annual rate of 1.34 million. Apartment complexes accounted for almost all of the increase.

House Prices Are Under Pressure in the Bay Area

In the two most expensive U.S. real estate markets, both in California’s Bay Area, home values declined in July.

The price of a typical home slumped 10.5% from the same month last year in San Jose and fell 1.1% in San Francisco, according to a report issued Friday by Zillow. A year ago, home values were growing 24% annually in San Jose — a 34.5 percentage point price swing. In San Francisco, the difference was 10.5 percentage points.

The markets of Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and San Diego were also among those California areas with at least a five percentage point swing in home values compared to a year ago.

Last year’s surge in Bay Area property values encouraged more homeowners to list their properties, according to the report. Inventories in San Francisco jumped 21.5%, while in San Jose, they surged 32.6%.

Among the top 50 markets, San Jose and San Francisco are the exceptions as prices are increasing in the other 48 markets. The median U.S. home is worth $229,000, up 5.2% from a year ago.

Applied Materials shares slump after Craig-Hallum downgrades to hold from buy

Craig-Hallum downgraded Applied Materials Inc. AMAT, -1.17% to hold from buy on Friday and said shares are fully valued given the lack of clarity on the timing or magnitude of the company’s recovery. Analyst Christian Schwab cut his stock price target to $46 from $50. The company beat estimates for its fiscal third quarter late Thursday and reiterated guidance for 2019 wafer fab equipment to be down in the mid-to-high teens from 2019 but to gradually recover in 2020. "However, management remained hesitant to call Q3 the bottom given the current macro-economic environment," the analyst wrote in a note. "With management’s limited visibility into the timing or magnitude of an expected gradual recovery as well as higher than expected OpEx we believe shares are fairly valued and are moving to the sidelines." Shares were down 2.3% Friday, but have gained 41% in 2019, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.42% has gained 15%.

Trump Reportedly Calls The Supporter He Fat-Shamed, And Twitter Imagines How It Went

Donald Trump may have done something completely out of character: He tried to make amends for something he did wrong.

During Thursday night’s rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, the president responded to a man he thought was a protester by fat-shaming him.

“That guy has got a serious weight problem. Go home, start exercising,” Trump said from the lectern, referring to the man he believed was interrupting his speech. “Gotta bigger problem than I do. Got a bigger problem than all of us.”

Trump had the man removed and, a few moments later, said without irony, “Our movement is built on love.”

It turns out the man that Trump thought was a protester was actually a supporter, according to the Associated Press.

And that changed things big time for the president, who is notoriously apology-adverse.

On Friday, the president reportedly contacted the man to make amends for the comment, according to Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker: 

Some people suspected there was a specific reason the president seemed eager to get on the man’s good side.

Other Twitter users couldn’t help but imagine what kind of message the president left:

White House officials insist he “did not use the words ‘sorry’ or ‘apologize’” in the message, according to CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins:

This story has been updated to include Kaitlan Collin’s comment from the White House.