At least eight monks including their chief abbots were found positive for methamphetamine during unannounced testing in Phetchabun province on November 28.

In Myanmar, a Buddhist monk has become a symbol of hope for thousands, who believe him to be an antidote to their “three catastrophes”: the military's ousting of the government, the Covid-19 pandemic and an economy ruined by nearly nine months of unrest.

Zhi Xiang is no ordinary animal rescuer: he is a Buddhist monk and has given nearly 8,000 dogs a new life, either at his ancient monastery or at a shelter he runs in Shanghai. He already has nearly 8,000 dogs to feed and care for. A few hundred will eventually be resettled in Europe or North America. "I have to rescue them because if I don't, they will die for sure," said the 51-year-old, who temporarily discards his monk's robes for an orange workman's suit as he gives vaccinations to dishevelled dogs fresh off the streets. Driven by his faith, Zhi has been rescuing animals -- mostly dogs but also cats and other strays -- since 1994.

Rescue divers have freed a meditating Buddhist monk from a flooded Thai cave in scenes that echoed the high-profile 2018 rescue of a trapped boys' football team. Manas Kemgoh, 46, was on a pilgrimage when he entered the Phra Sai Ngam cave in Phitsanulok province, in the country's centralnorth, on Saturday to meditate.

Buddhist monks arrive in Seoul after a 500-kilometre pilgrimage dedicated to prayers to end the coronavirus pandemic. "We monks walked with the mindset of earnestly wishing this situation would come to an end and that this nation can overcome it," says one monk.