Hollywood star Richard Gere meditated Monday at Indonesia's Borobudur temple before touring the ninth-century Buddhist monument with his wife and son.

Nepalese police have arrested more than a dozen Tibetan exiles who were celebrating the birth of Lord Buddha, a spokeswoman for a Tibetan organisation said Friday.

Hollywood star Richard Gere -- a Buddhist and a longtime campaigner for the rights of Tibetans -- on Tuesday visited a Buddhist temple during a visit to South Korea.

Bangladesh's government will retain Islam as the country's official state religion despite pledges by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to restore the state's secular character, a minister said Tuesday.

Hollywood star Richard Gere plans to visit South Korea this month to promote his photo exhibition and tour Buddhist temples, a religious official said Wednesday.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks took to the streets of Sri Lanka's capital Friday to express solidarity with factory workers protesting a controversial pensions bill.

China's top Tibetan official said Thursday "the door was open" for the return of the exiled Dalai Lama, but repeated its charge that the spiritual leader was a separatist bent on Tibetan independence.

A Sri Lankan minister and members of an all-Buddhist political party on Sunday shaved their heads before embarking on a meditation programme to mark the 2,600 anniversary of the religion.

YALA, Thailand (Reuters) - Suspected insurgents killed two Buddhists in a drive-by shooting Sunday in Thailand's deep south, police said, the latest in an upsurge of violence in the troubled region bordering Malaysia.

The Karmapa Lama, one of Tibet's top Buddhist monks and widely seen as a potential spiritual successor to the Dalai Lama, spoke out Monday against allegations that he was a Chinese spy.

The Dalai Lama offered a renewed prayer for disaster-hit Japan Friday, and urged the nation to look to the future.

China on Tuesday blamed Buddhist monks for causing unrest in a Tibetan region, accusing them of disrupting social order and defaming their religion.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned foreigners from some restive, heavily Tibetan parts of southwestern Sichuan province, travel agents said on Friday, in an apparent attempt to close off a region shaken by recent clashes with the police.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday everything was "normal" at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery after the Dalai Lama urged restraint in a stand-off between security forces and Tibetans at the temple in southwest China.

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama has urged restraint in a stand-off between security forces and Tibetans at a Buddhist monastery in southwest China, said to have been sparked by the self-immolation of a monk last month.

An international conservation team has begun work on restoring three endangered monuments at Buddha's supposed birthplace in southern Nepal, officials said on Tuesday.

India, home to all the world's major religions and a world centre of spiritualism, draws tens of thousands each year hoping to nourish their souls in ashrams and other retreats dotted around the country.

UNOSUMAI, Japan (Reuters) - The towering waves that splintered thousands of Japanese homes and lives has forced the country to rethink one of its most sacred Buddhist practices: how it treats the dead.

UNOSUMAI, Japan (Reuters) - The towering waves that splintered thousands of Japanese homes and lives has forced the country to rethink one of its most sacred Buddhist practices: how it treats the dead.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Tibetan Buddhist monk burned himself to death in western China on Wednesday, triggering a street protest against government controls on the restive region, a group campaigning for Tibetan self-rule said.