Scott clutched the bill tensely in his hand, which he held pinned to his rib cage.

NEWYORKER: A Pickpocket��s Tale

But in the tensely partisan mood of this election year the Democrats may be hardening.

ECONOMIST: Nice congresswoman, shame about the party

Russia and China watch each other tensely across the Siberian border.

NEWYORKER: After America

The poorly domesticated Paul lives tensely with his grimly steadfast wife (Marie-Paule Laval), their teen-age son, and a newborn daughter, yet brazenly philanders with Ulrika (Johanna ter Steege), who makes no pretense of loving him.

NEWYORKER: The Birth of Love

Feature photography: Javier Manzano, a free-lance photographer, for his extraordinary picture distributed by Agence France-Presse of two Syrian rebel soldiers tensely guarding their position as beams of light stream through bullet holes in a nearby metal wall.

WSJ: 2013 Pulitzer winners in journalism and arts

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Venezuelans waited tensely late Sunday for results in Venezuela's special election to replace Hugo Chavez, with both the campaigns of his handpicked-successor and the opposition candidate hinting at victory and suggesting the other was plotting fraud.

NPR: Tensions Up In Venezuela After Polls Close

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A veteran Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and his younger partner sat tensely in their car Thursday in the same patrol district where a former LAPD cop -- now on the run, accused in three killings -- used to work.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS