Hello and welcome to the intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Israel continues to lead the way in vaccinating its population.

We examine what other countries will be watching closely,

how the interplay between inoculating the elderly,

more contagious variants of the virus and lockdowns

affects the overall death rate.

And it would plainly be called extortion if it weren't being done by cute little monkeys.

A new experiment on macaques at a temple in Bali shows that the thieving critters have a sophisticated sense of what your purse or phone is worth to you.

First up, though, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray.

The turmoil began in November when civil war broke out between the federal government and regional forces,

led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF.

Within weeks, troops had entered the regional capital of Mekhele,

and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory.

But the fighting continued.

Thousands have died in the conflict,

and more than two million civilians have been driven from their homes.

Some 60,000 have fled to neighboring Sudan.

Now the threat of starvation looms.

Most of the regions, roughly 6 million people, have been without adequate food, water or medicine for weeks.

Ethiopia's Tigray region is facing an alarming humanitarian crisis,

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