The violent crisis between India and Pakistan is exactly the kind of international emergency that would once have prompted a full-on US diplomatic drive to cool tempers and head off a wider war.

But while the US has acted as a mediator in previous crises in South Asia, exerting a calming influence that has helped to avert outright war, Washington may be too distracted by Ukraine and Gaza to be able to resolve the India-Pakistan clash,

The auction house Sotheby's has postponed its sale in Hong Kong of hundreds of sacred jewels linked to the Buddha's remains, after a threat of legal action by the Indian government.

A Hong Kong Wednesday Sotheby's auction of the Piprahwa gems linked to the Buddha was postponed Tuesday after India threatened legal action to repatriate the gems.