Myanmar&s ruling military said Saturday on state television that the confirmed death toll from a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake rose to 1,644, as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the scores of buildings that collapsed when it struck near the country&s second-largest city.

A US passenger flight preparing to leave the nation's capital and an incoming military jet received instructions to divert and prevent a possible collision, officials said.

Pope Francis has shown "a truly surprising improvement" since returning to the Vatican to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double-pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff's five-week hospital stay said.

Utah has become the first US state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organisations who warn the move will lead to medical problems that disproportionately affect low-income communities.