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Naples bus service grinds to a halt as operator runs out of gas

A cash-strapped global economy is leaving some countries without a dollar to spare and public servants in Naples won't even be able to take the bus to work.

Government spending cuts to public transit in Naples, Italy, meant that when buses started to run out of gas on Wednesday, there was little fuel left to fill the tanks. Residents complained when the transport operator, Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (ANM), announced online that it was no longer guaranteeing service.

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ANM reportedly owes money to fuel companies but it says it can't pay because Italy's austerity program has cut municipal funds and raised fuel taxes. ANM said service would hopefully be back to normal on Wednesday afternoon.

Naples has had difficulty operating municipal services in the past, including poor management of its garbage disposal.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's finance minister says the country's public account balance dropped to $217 last week after it paid public workers their salaries. Tendai Biti told journalists in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare that government finances were in a "paralysis state."

The country has stabilized since an economic bust around the year 2000 but public finances and unstable resources for business plague the country's growth.

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Biti told reporters Zimbabwe would ask other countries for help to fund a probable election and constitutional referendum this year.