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Yame Fukushima Historic Townscape
A nationally designated Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings lined with earthen-walled storehouse-style townscapes.
This old townscape spreads across the Fukushima district of Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and once flourished as the castle town of the Kurume Domain. Many of its buildings are earthen-walled storehouses, and around 150 traditional structures dating from the Edo period to the early Showa era line the old highway. The area was designated as a National Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in May 2002.
The street is also lined with shops making use of traditional architecture, where you can enjoy local food and shopping. Other highlights are scattered throughout the area, including Fukushima Hachimangu Shrine, where the nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property “Yame Fukushima Lantern Puppet Performance” is held every September, and Yokomachi Machiya Exchange Center, which introduces the charm and history of the townscape. If you visit in April, be sure to stop by “Tunnel Fuji,” a wisteria trellis about 510 m long made using rails from the former Japanese National Railways Yabe Line. Dobashi Market, a rare drinking district set within a shrine precinct, is also a must-visit.
Reflecting Fukushima’s history as a town that prospered through merchants and artisans, another distinctive feature is that you can spot Ebisu statues throughout the area. Stone monuments left by haiku poets and their disciples also remain, making it a great place to enjoy a literary monument walk.
Source: Good Luck Trip
DEN HAAG (ANP) - Het aantal buitenlandse studenten in Nederland is dit jaar voor het eerst sinds 2006 gedaald. Dit collegejaar staan er in totaal 129.764 ingeschreven voor een volledige opleiding aan een Nederlandse hogeschool of universiteit. Dat is een lichte daling van 133 studenten vergeleken met vorig jaar, constateert de organisatie Nuffic, die zich inzet voor internationalisering in het hoger onderwijs.
De afname, aldus de onderzoekers, wordt sterk beïnvloed door de terugloop van het aantal studenten uit Duitsland en China. Respectievelijk gaat het om 1680 en 988 minder. Het aantal uit Duitsland daalt al sinds het collegejaar 2022/2023. Mogelijk komt dat onder meer door nieuwe opleidingseisen voor psychotherapeuten, die sinds enkele jaren gelden. De afname uit China komt mogelijk door "de stijgende positie van Chinese universiteiten in internationale ranglijsten", aldus Nuffic.
De buitenlandse studenten komen uit 171 verschillende landen, waarmee zij 16,8 procent uitmaken van de studenten in het hbo en op de universiteiten. Dat is een toename van 0,3 procent vergeleken met vorig jaar, maar dat komt doordat het aantal Nederlandse studenten nog iets harder daalde.
Ondanks de afname van Duitse studenten blijft Duitsland met afstand het belangrijkste land van herkomst voor buitenlandse studenten, met 18.241 studenten. Erna volgen Italië (8686), Roemenië (7659), Spanje (6747) en Polen (5961). China staat op plek zeven met 5093 studenten.
Tegen de trend in stijgt het aantal internationale studenten dat voor een technische studie op de universiteit kiest met 11 procent. Daarmee is de studierichting de op een na populairste wo-studie voor buitenlanders, na economie. Ook het aantal internationale hogeschoolstudenten dat voor techniek kiest, is gestegen met enkele honderden tot ruim 9000. Mogelijk komt de groei van het aantal techniekstudenten door wijziging in wervingsbeleid, aldus Nuffic.
Voor het eerst in twintig jaar zag Amsterdam minder buitenlandse studenten (min 1,7 procent) komen, hoewel het de grootste internationale studentenstad blijft, met bijna 26.000 studenten van over de grens. Maastricht volgt met ruim 14.000. Eindhoven zag flink wat nieuwe studenten uit het buitenland komen en is nu de vijfde stad qua internationale studentenpopulatie.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Last year, Meta radically overhauled the rules around what content it would allow on its platforms. The company claimed that its own efforts policing speech had gone too far and that it would relax the rules around what speech was allowed. "We have been over-enforcing our rules, limiting legitimate political debate and censoring too much trivial content and subjecting too many people to frustrating enforcement actions," Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief global affairs officer, wrote in a blog post at the time. Over a year later, new research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) shows the immediate impact of these changes.
The researchers analyzed about 8 million Facebook comments and found that abusive and racist comments targeting both Republican and Democrat lawmakers tripled in the six months after the new rules were put in place. Some categories of abusive comments documented by the researchers saw even sharper rises, with violent threats and hate speech quadrupling during the same period. The report cites specific examples of gendered and racist abuse directed at lawmakers like US representatives Jasmine Crockette of Texas and Byron Daniels of Florida. These comments were not taken down by Meta.
The CCDH researchers also found that threats against President Trump more than doubled in the six months after Meta overhauled its rules. Many of the comments, which included direct threats to his life, could have been classified as felony offenses, the researchers say. [...] Comments that violated Meta's policies around violent threats quadrupled, from 1,800 in the six months before the changes to 7,600 in the six months after. Hate speech comments also quadrupled, from 6,900 to 30,000. Comments that broke Meta's rules on bullying and harassment doubled, from 15,700 to 39,900.
The researchers analyzed about 8 million Facebook comments and found that abusive and racist comments targeting both Republican and Democrat lawmakers tripled in the six months after the new rules were put in place. Some categories of abusive comments documented by the researchers saw even sharper rises, with violent threats and hate speech quadrupling during the same period. The report cites specific examples of gendered and racist abuse directed at lawmakers like US representatives Jasmine Crockette of Texas and Byron Daniels of Florida. These comments were not taken down by Meta.
The CCDH researchers also found that threats against President Trump more than doubled in the six months after Meta overhauled its rules. Many of the comments, which included direct threats to his life, could have been classified as felony offenses, the researchers say. [...] Comments that violated Meta's policies around violent threats quadrupled, from 1,800 in the six months before the changes to 7,600 in the six months after. Hate speech comments also quadrupled, from 6,900 to 30,000. Comments that broke Meta's rules on bullying and harassment doubled, from 15,700 to 39,900.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Entre sombras y luz"
* El sol siempre encuentra cómo colarse, incluso entre edificios. Que tu día de hoy tenga ese mismo rayito que rompe las nubes ️ ¿Qué es lo que te está iluminando hoy?
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