Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, has said people needed to better at acting with compassion and empathy to create a healthier, happier society in her first major public message since returning to official duties after treatment for cancer.

In a foreword to a report released on Sunday by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which she launched in 2021, Kate said to find lasting solutions to issues of poor mental health, addiction and abuse, "we must reset, restore, and rebalance."

"That means taking a profound look at ourselves and our own behaviours, emotions and feelings," Kate, wife of heir to the throne Prince William, wrote.

"It means getting much better at acting with compassion and empathy towards one another, to help us bond and maintain lasting relationships that bring meaning to our lives ... At the heart of all of this is the need for us to develop and nurture a set of social and emotional skills which we must prioritise if we are to thrive."

The centre, set up as part of Kate and William's Royal Foundation charity arm, said its 'Shaping Us Framework' sought to improve awareness of the importance of such skills and offer a "robust yet flexible" model towards a healthy and happy life.

The princess has gradually been returning to her public royal role after she completed a course of preventative chemotherapy to address the presence of an unspecified form of cancer, making two appearances at events in the last week. 

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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