What one culture considers a perplexing or awkward pause, others see as a valuable moment of reflection and a sign of respect for what the last speaker has said. Research conducted at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in Dutch and also in English found that when a silence in conversation stretched to four seconds, people started to feel unsettled.

The Brazilian Congress has voted not to put President Michel Temer on trial for corruption.
Opposition lawmakers in the lower house of Congress failed to obtain the two-thirds majority needed to send the case to the Supreme Court.
Mr Temer welcomed the vote as "clear and incontestable".
The president has been accused of receiving $12m (£9m) in bribes from the boss of a giant meatpacking firm, JBS. He has denied the allegation.
In the 513-seat chamber, 263 voted against the motion to send the president for trial and 227 voted in favour, well below the 342 needed for the motion to pass.
"With the support the lower house has given me, we will pass all the reforms that the country needs," President Temer said, after the vote.
"Now it is time to invest in our country. Brazil is ready to start growing again."
He vowed to complete his term of office, which ends in December 2018.

Jane Austen had good reason to be so enamoured of the marriage plot. Put plainly, marriage was a colossally big deal in early 19th-Century England – considerably more so than it is for many of us today. With divorce almost impossible, a hasty choice of spouse came with decades of leisure at which to repent. Pity poor Mr Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, for instance; so “captivated by youth and beauty” was he that he was blinded to his future wife’s altogether less comely character. Five daughters on, he is stuck with her inane chatter across the breakfast table.
For a woman, accepting the wrong proposal (and it always was a case of accepting, rather than initiating) could prove still more devastating. Forbidden from inheriting and faced with towering obstacles if they sought to earn their own living, middle-class Regency women – even those blessed with large dowries – had to hand control of their financial, social and emotional wellbeing over to their husbands. They had few legal rights as singletons. But once married, in the eyes of the law they ceased to exist altogether, becoming possessions instead of individuals. A spinster, meanwhile, was forever dependent upon the goodwill of (male) relatives.

President Donald Trump says the US military is "locked and loaded" to deal with North Korea, ramping up the rhetorical brinkmanship.
"Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong-un will find another path!" he tweeted.
He spoke as Pyongyang accused him of "driving" the Korean peninsula to the "brink of a nuclear war".
North Korea has announced plans to fire missiles near the US territory of Guam.
The Pacific island's homeland security agency issued a fact sheet on Friday with tips for residents to prepare for any missile threat.
Trump administration's mixed messages
Trump's long nuclear obsession
North Korea's neighbours consider risk of war
It states: "Do not look at the flash or fireball - it can blind you."
"Lie flat on the ground and cover your head. If the explosion is some distance away, it could take 30 seconds or more for the blast wave to hit."

Pop star Taylor Swift has won a sexual assault case against ex-radio DJ David Mueller, who she said had groped her at a 2013 concert.
He assaulted her by grabbing her bottom beneath her skirt during a photo shoot, a jury in Denver, Colorado, found.
She was awarded a symbolic $1 (77p) in damages that she had sought.
Mr Mueller had originally tried to sue the pop star, saying that her claims had cost him his job. But that lawsuit was thrown out by a judge last week.
On Monday, the jury also rejected similar claims Mueller had made against the singer's mother, Andrea Swift, and her radio liaison, Frank Bell.
In a statement following the verdict, Ms Swift said: "I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this

Iraqi warplanes have bombarded IS positions in the city for several days, in preparation for ground operations.
On Sunday Mr Abadi, dressed in a black military uniform and standing in front of an Iraqi flag and a map of the country, announced the "start of an operation to free Tal Afar".
"I am saying to Daesh [the Islamic State group] that there is no choice other than to surrender or die," he said.
He finished his speech with an address to Iraqi troops: "The whole world is with you."
Hours before Mr Abadi's statement, the Iraqi air force dropped leaflets over the city warning people to "prepare" for the latest assault.
"The battle is imminent and the victory is coming, God willing," the leaflets read.
Tal Afar is surrounded by government troops and Shia militiamen in the south, and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the north.

Brazil's government has abolished a vast national reserve in the Amazon to open up the area to mining.
The area, covering 46,000 sq km (17,800 sq miles), straddles the northern states of Amapa and Para, and is thought to be rich in gold, and other minerals.
The government said nine conservation and indigenous land areas within it would continue to be legally protected.
But activists have voiced concern that these areas could be badly compromised.
Around 30% of the overall territory will now be open to mining.
A decree from President Michel Temer dissolved the protected area, known as the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca).
Maurício Voivodic, head of the conservation body WWF in Brazil, warned last month that mining in the area would lead to "demographic explosion, deforestation, the destruction of water resources, the loss of biodiversity and the creation of land conflict".

PSG have been owned by the Gulf state of Qatar, via its Qatar Sports Investments fund, since 2011.

The French club made made a profit of 10m euros (£9.2m) on revenue of 520.9m euros (£389.6m at the time of conversion) in the 2015-16 financial year, according to the most recent figures published by Deloitte.

The six-time French champions have failed to meet FFP rules before - receiving a fine, a spending cap and only being allowed to register 21 players for the Champions League in 2014.

Uefa's FFP regulations were approved in 2010 and the first assessments began the following year.

The 'break-even' element states clubs can spend 30m euros more than they earn over a three-year period.

A Uefa statement said the investigation into PSG would "focus on the compliance of the club with the break-even requirement, particularly in light of its recent transfer activity".

It added: "In the coming months, the investigatory chamber of the Uefa club financial control body will regularly meet in order to carefully evaluate all documentation pertaining to this case.

Top seed Rafael Nadal swept past Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in brilliant style to set up a US Open final against Kevin Anderson.

The Spaniard won nine games in a row at one stage on his way to a 4-6 6-0 6-3 6-2 victory in the second semi-final.

Nadal, 31, will try for a third US Open and 16th Grand Slam title on Sunday, against a surprise opponent.

South African Anderson, 31, beat Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 earlier on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

US Open semi-finals as they happened
Friends Stephens & Keys set for final
Murray & Hingis reach mixed doubles final
At 32 in the world, Anderson is the lowest-ranked man to reach a singles final at Flushing Meadows since the ranking system was introduced in 1973.

He faces a huge challenge against Nadal, who has a 4-0 record in their head-to-head and grew stronger as the match wore on against a tired Del Potro.

"It means a lot," said Nadal. "It has been an amazing season of course after a couple with injures and troubles.

"To be back here in front of this amazing crowd, on this amazing court, and to have the chance to fight for another title is so important to me."

Twenty-nine patients have been treated in hospitals in London following this morning's explosion, NHS England has said.

Eight people have been discharged from Guy’s and St Thomas’ but 21 continue to recieve treatment at Imperial, Chelsea and Westminster and St George’s.

London Ambulance crews took 19 people to hospital while the rest self-presented.

With the tiny screen bouncing around in front of us, tinny sound quality and frequent interruptions, watching a movie during a flight is hardly an immersive experience.
Yet, frequent fliers may have found themselves – or at least witnessed others – welling up at the most innocuous of films while on a long airline journey. Even lighthearted comedies such as Bee Movie, Bridesmaids and The Simpsons can trigger the water works in passengers who would normally remain dry-eyed if watching these on the ground.
Physicist and television presenter Brian Cox and musician Ed Sheeran have both admitted they can get a bit over-emotional when watching movies on aircraft. A new survey by Gatwick Airport in London found 15% of men and 6% of women said they were more likely to cry when watching a film on a flight than they would if seeing it at home.
One major airline has gone as far as issuing “emotional health warnings” before inflight entertainment that might upset its customers.

"Mentally deranged", "bereft of reason" and a "madman on the loose" - these are the things two world leaders have been saying to each other in 2017.
They are US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un
There have been six nuclear tests by North Korea in 2017, with the last one just a few days ago.
The most extreme insults began flying between the pair in April.

Alabama firebrand Roy Moore has dealt a huge blow to the Republican leadership by winning the party's nomination for the Senate.
The controversial lawyer has made headlines for a series of incendiary remarks over the years, but beat his Washington-backed opponent with ease.
Here's a round-up of some of his more extreme beliefs, with some analysis from the BBC's Anthony Zurcher on why it all matters.

In the introduction to his new book The Poetry Pharmacy, William Sieghart quotes the British playwright Alan Bennett. “The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.”
Sieghart’s book is subtitled ‘tried and true prescriptions for the heart, mind and soul’, and it brings the special and particular in 56 poems to bear on anxiety, depression and grief. Whether it’s a poem to read before a party – which “can inject self-belief like a shot of adrenaline” – or 17 lines that remind us “there is a small, wide-eyed animal within each of us that doesn’t understand why we keep kicking it”, the words in The Poetry Pharmacy have replenishing qualities. “This is not a poetry anthology, it’s a self-help book for life,” says Sieghart, who has dispensed more than 1000 ‘poetry prescriptions’ since his Poetry Pharmacy began in 2014.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican).
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the Nobel committee chair, said it was due to the group's "groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty prohibition" on nuclear weapons.
"We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time," she continued.
She cited the North Korea issue.
In July, after pressure from Ican, 122 nations backed a UN treaty designed to ban and eventually eliminate all nuclear weapons. But none of the nine known nuclear powers in the world - including the UK and the US - endorsed it.
Ms Reiss-Andersen called on nuclear-armed states to initiate negotiations to gradually eliminate the weapons.
Ican, a coalition of hundreds of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), is 10 years old and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The group will receive nine million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million, £846,000) along with a medal and a diploma at a ceremony in December.

Theresa May will tell parliament later that the UK can "prove the doomsayers wrong" when it comes to Brexit.
The prime minister will say "progress will not always be smooth", but add that she wants the best possible deal for both the UK and the EU.
Her comments come as the fifth round of negotiations begin in Brussels later.
It is the final set of talks before EU leaders meet to decide if enough progress has been made to talk about post-Brexit relations with the UK.

An AirAsia Indonesia flight has been forced to turn back to Australia after pilots were alerted to a possible loss of cabin pressure, airport officials say.
Flight QZ535, bound for the Indonesian island of Bali, changed course about 25 minutes after take-off on Sunday.
The Airbus A320, carrying 151 people, landed safely at Perth Airport.
AirAsia said the flight experienced a "technical issue". Australian media said it had appeared to lose altitude.
"We were all pretty much saying goodbye to each other. It was really upsetting," one passenger told the local Nine network.
A video taken on the plane, broadcast by local media, shows oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling and one person shouting "passengers get down, passengers get down".
Another passenger, Claire Askew, told the Seven network that "panic was escalated" by airline staff who were screaming and appeared to be in tears.
In a statement, AirAsia said it was "fully committed" to the safety of passengers. It did not elaborate on the problem.
"AirAsia apologises to passengers for any inconvenience caused," the statement said.
In June, an AirAsia X flight on its way to Bali was also forced to turn back to Perth after an engine problem left it "shaking like a washing machine".
In December 2014, an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board after the aircraft's rudder control system malfunctioned during the flight.

You've finally been given a promotion. All those years of slog and sucking-up have at last been recognised. There’s just one problem – you have absolutely no management training.
The thrill of a hard-won pay rise can quickly evaporate if your organisation drops you in to a new, stretching role, wishes you luck, and sends you on your way.
They seem to expect you to instinctively know what to do next. After all, you’ve been around for a while – surely you know what it means to be a manager? Get on with it.
Unsurprisingly, without preparation or direction, most people will default to clichéd, stereotypical ways of running things. This is how managers are supposed to behave, they think. Inevitably, it means they often fall back on some common misconceptions in an effort to bluff their way through. But rather than helping them lead their team, it can be counterproductive.
There are many myths that could be unravelled here, but the following are the top 10.

At least 40 people have been killed in two separate attacks on Shia mosques in Afghanistan, officials say.
A gunman entered the Imam Zaman mosque in the capital Kabul before opening fire and detonating an explosive, killing more than 30 worshippers.
A second attack in Afghanistan's Ghor province killed at least 10 people.
No group has so far said it carried out the attacks, but so-called Islamic State (IS) has previously targeted Shia mosques across Afghanistan.
An eyewitness told the BBC that the scene at Kabul's Imam Zaman mosque, in the west of the city, "looks like a front line".
The attacker is reported to have opened fire as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers, before detonating a bomb.
Kabul police spokesman Basir Mojahid confirmed the incident at the Shia mosque in Kabul, but did not give further details.
A spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said investigators were working at the scene to determine the "nature of the explosion," AFP news agency reports.

The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, says the region will not accept Madrid's plan for direct rule.
He described it as the worst attack on Catalonia's institutions since General Franco's 1939-1975 dictatorship, under which regional autonomy was dissolved.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's plans include the removal of Catalonia's leaders and curbs on its parliament.
An independence referendum went ahead on 1 October despite being banned by Spain's Constitutional Court.
Reality Check: Would Catalonia be a viable country?
Cases for and against independence
The crisis in 300 words
Mr Puigdemont said the Spanish government was acting against the democratic will of Catalans after refusing all offers of dialogue