Woolie

Christopher Hitchens, the author, Vanity Fair contributing editor and frequent television pundit, has suspended a tour to promote his new book while he receives chemotherapy.

Mr. Hitchens, a former smoker who recently quit, made the announcement in a statement through his publishing house on Wednesday.

“I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus,” he said. “This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice.”

The book, “Hitch-22,” has been on The New York Times bestseller list for three weeks and has received generally favorable reviews.

MOSCOW — In the lore of Soviet spycraft, few figures command as much respect as the “illegals,” steel-jawed agents with the intelligence of a chess grandmaster and the fortitude of a cosmonaut.

Painstakingly trained in the K.G.B.’s Directorate S, the illegals spent years assuming a fake biography, known in Russian as a legend, then awaited orders undercover for years or even decades. Unlike their “legal” counterparts, they worked without a diplomatic cover, which would offer them immunity from prosecution. They were rewarded with the kind of adulation Americans reserve for movie stars.

This week’s jaw-dropping arrest of 11 people seems to offer a glimpse into a recent form of the program. Russia has made little comment on the specific accusations, though it called the arrests “baseless” and “unseemly.”