North Korea has the most human slaves in the world, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, with research showing it is keeping over 2.6 million people in modern day slavery.

Among the nations in the top 10, most are some of the worst persecutors of Christians as well.

The 2018 Global Slavery Index, released last week by the Walk Free Foundation, which compiles statistics and engages in research aimed at ending human slavery, reported that one in every 10 North Korean citizens is forced to work under slavery conditions.

“As a United Nations. Commission of Inquiry has observed, violations of human rights in North Korea are not mere excesses of the state, they are an essential component of the political system,” the report noted.

The country with the second highest prevalence of modern slavery is the African nation of Eritrea, described as “a repressive regime that abuses its conscription system to hold its citizens in forced labor for decades.”

Rounding out the top 10 are Burundi, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Mauritania, South Sudan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Iran.

The analysis showed that although most of these nations are marked by conflict, displacement, and a lack of physical security, the conditions in North Korea, Eritrea, and Burundi stand out considering slavery is mostly imposed by the state.

A large boulder from the Western Wall was dislodged from the ancient structure on Monday morning, tumbling down onto an egalitarian prayer platform, which was empty at the time.

There were no reported injuries in the incident near Robinson’s Arch, south of the main prayer plaza, but the rock landed very close to a female worshiper.

Seventy-nine-year-old worshiper Daniella Goldberg told Reuters: “I didn’t hear or feel anything until it landed right at my feet.”

The smaller of two platforms designated for mixed-gender prayer there was closed until further notice.

“Israel Antiquities Authority officials are dealing with the incident,” said Masorti movement head Yitzhar Hess in a statement posted on Twitter, alongside dramatic footage of the stone coming loose and crashing onto the platform, revealing dirt behind the wall.

“This is a wake-up call — we must check the entire Western Wall, both parts, so that heaven forbid there is no disaster in the future,” he added.

The fallen boulder weighed about 220 pounds (100 kilos), Israel Radio said.

The incident came a day after the platform was filled with worshippers marking the Tisha B’Av fast, which honors the destruction of the two Jewish temples in Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis also flocked to the main prayer plaza of the Western Wall between Saturday night and Sunday evening to solemnly mark the day.

The rabbi of the main Western Wall plaza called for public “soul searching” after the incident. “This is an unusual and most rare incident that has not occurred for decades,” said Western Wall…

A man walked along a Toronto street firing a handgun into restaurants and cafes, shooting 14 people and killing two before dying after an exchange of gunfire with police.

Police Chief Mark Saunders did not rule out terrorism as a motive, though officials did not immediately identify the attacker, other than to say he was 29 years old.

Toronto police spokesman Meaghan Gray said early Monday that a second victim had died, though there were no further details.

Saunders earlier said that a young woman had died in Sunday’s shootings and that a girl aged 8 or 9 was in critical condition. The condition of the other victims was not known yet.

“This is an attack against innocent families and our entire city,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a city council meeting Monday.

The mass shooting in a usually peaceful city comes three months after a driver of a van plowed into pedestrians on a Toronto sidewalk, killing 10 people and injuring 14 and amid increasing concern about gun violence.

A video from one witness shows a man dressed in black clothes and a black hat walking quickly and firing three shots from the sidewalk into at least one shop or restaurant in Toronto’s Greektown, a lively residential area with crowded Greek restaurants and cafes.

Witnesses heard many shots and described the suspect walking past restaurants and cafes…