Entomologist Shadrack Muya, a senior lecturer at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, said that ants are important for aerating soils, enhancing soil fertility and dispersing seeds. He added that their removal from their environment disrupts the ecosystem.

Muya warned against taking ants from their natural habitats, saying they were unlikely to survive if not supported to adapt to their new environment.

“Survival in the new environment will depend on the interventions that are likely to take place. Where it has been taken away from, there is a likelihood of an ecological disaster that may happen due to that disturbance,” he said.

Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving 12 months in prison — the minimum penalty for the offense — for violating wildlife conservation laws.

Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species.

Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks.

They were charged on April 15.

Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya’s main airport on Wednesday, said in her ruling that despite the teenagers telling the court they were naïve and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected is valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) had said the teenagers were involved in trafficking the ants to markets in Europe and Asia, and that the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-colored harvester ant native to East Africa.

The teenagers’ lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua, described the sentencing as “fair” and said her clients would not appeal.

The illegal export of the ants “not only undermines Kenya’s sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,” KWS said in a statement.

In a separate but related case, two other men charged after they were found with 400 ants were also fined $7,700 each with an option of serving 12 months in prison.

Duh Hung Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, told the court that he was sent to pick up the ants and arrived at Kenya’s main airport where he met his contact person, Dennis Ng’ang’a, and together they travelled to meet the locals who sell the ants.

Ng’ang’a, who is from Kenya, had said he didn’t know it was illegal because ants are sold and eaten locally.

Magistrate Thuku during the ruling described Ng’ang’a and Nguyen’s meet-up as “part of an elaborate scheme.”

Black smoke billowed out of the Sistine Chapel’s small chimney on Wednesday evening, signalling that cardinals had failed to elect a new pope to lead the Catholic Church.

Thousands of people had gathered in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican waiting for smoke signalling whether a choice had been made or not.

At just past 21h00 local time, black smoke spewed out of the chimney indicating that the first vote has failed to reach consensus.

White smoke and the pealing of bells would have announced that the 133 cardinals from some 70 countries had chosen the 267th leader of the global Catholic Church.

There is no time limit as to how long the secretive conclave, as the gathering is known, can last.

But given that it the most geographically diverse one in the faith’s 2,000-year history it is expected to last a few days.

A cardinal needs a two-thirds majority to win the centuries-old secret voting ritual.

As they enter the conclave, the cardinal’s cell phones are taken away, they take oaths of secrecy, and airwaves around the Vatican are jammed to protect the deliberations.

While there was only one ballot on Wednesday, there can be as many as four votes a day thereafter.

The conclave began with a morning mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

Senior cardinal Giovanni Battista Re prayed for the cardinals to be enlightened to choose “the pope our time needs”.

The previous pontiff, Pope Francis, died on 21 April at the age of 88.

Greece and Egypt reaffirmed their commitment Wednesday to a proposed undersea electricity interconnection designed to transport renewable energy from North Africa to Europe.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi renewed the pledge during talks in Athens, following the signing of cooperation agreements across multiple sectors.

The planned 3,000-megawatt capacity cable will stretch nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) across the eastern Mediterranean and has secured backing from the European Union, making it eligible for significant EU funding.

“This will allow both Greece and Europe to import low-cost energy – primarily wind energy, which you are able to produce very competitively – and export it to Europe,” Mitsotakis said during joint statements.

The project, estimated to cost around 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion), is expected to become operational within five years, under an ambitious timeline set by both governments.

It aims to transmit solar and wind-generated power developed specifically for the project in Egypt, with private sector involvement led by Greece’s Copelouzos Group.

El-Sissi highlighted the project’s strategic importance. “It is not just a bi-lateral project, but also a strategic step with regional and international dimensions, given that it is considered the first direct link for clean energy coming from Egypt to Europe through Greece,” he said. “We look forward to the continued support of the European Union for this ambitious project.”

The EU has expressed strong interest in expanding energy partnerships with non-member countries to diversify its energy sources and reduce its historic dependence on Russian energy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Mitsotakis and el-Sissi also discussed regional security, migration challenges, and ways to deepen Egypt’s relationship with the European Union.

“Greece is a steadfast ally of Egypt, including on matters concerning your country’s relationship with the European Union,” Mitsotakis said, underlining Athens’ role in fostering closer EU-Egypt ties.

The talks in Athens concluded with agreements to explore additional energy cooperation, facilitate expanded seasonal employment of Egyptian workers in Greece, and enhance collaboration across financial, defense, and cultural sectors.