One is the sum of money involved: suspect contracts totalling almost €800m ($1.1 billion) were awarded for one event alone, the celebration next year of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.
At the summit of what is known in Russia as the power "vertical" lies the Kremlin, a prime beneficiary of the entrenched system of kickbacks, bribes, protection money and suspect contracts.
Many lucrative and suspect contracts are enacted through special interest politics, which are then locked in place by an appeal to the sanctity of vested rights.
In several previous high-profile killings of government critics, assassins have been brought to trial, but not those suspected of contracting them.
The industry received an additional blow today as Japanese tour companies and corporations, including JTB and Nippon Travel, suspended travel to Hong Kong and southern China for two weeks after a government official warned that 14 Japanese are suspected of contracting the deadly pneumonia.
The 21 humans suspected of contracting the disease were all cleared after medical tests, confirming that the nonfatal illness is largely restricted to cloven-hooved animals like pigs, sheep and cattle.
After learning today that a worker at the plant was suspected of contracting inhalation anthrax, Mr. Bahrle said he was shocked that spores had apparently became airborne, raising even greater health risks.
The Saudi man who was suspected of contracting the disease died of cardiac arrest, according to the website of the country's health ministry.
One death is tentatively attributed to it, eight people are confirmed or suspected of contracting the disease, and hundreds have been quarantined.
Health authorities said one of the visitors was confirmed to have measles, and the other is suspected of contracting the highly contagious disease.
