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HARARE — Zimbabwe declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system, and state media reported Thursday the government is seeking more international help to pay for food and drugs to combat the crisis.

The failure of the southern African nation's health care system is one of the most devastating effects of the country's overall economic collapse.

Facing the highest inflation in the world, Zimbabweans are struggling just to eat and find clean drinking water. The United Nations says the number of suspected cholera cases in Zimbabwe since August has climbed above 12,600, with 570 deaths, because of a lack of water treatment and broken sewage pipes.

Still, residents are getting little help from the government, which has been paralyzed since disputed March elections.

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin spent much of his annual question-and-answer televised exchange on Thursday seeking to reassure Russians that the effects of the global economic crisis on the country would be minimal.

Putin faced a barrage of questions from people across the country concerned about the decline in the value of the ruble, increased fuel costs, unpaid pensions and rising unemployment, among other issues.

When Putin started the annual broadcast as president seven years ago, the mood was different. Russia was at the start of a decade-long economic boom. The standard of living reached historic heights and Putin enjoyed huge popularity. With the onset of more difficult times, however, it is unclear how long either can be maintained.

Putin deflected responsibility for his country's woes, placing blame, as he has done before, squarely on what he called American recklessness.

CULIACAN — Thirteen bullet-riddled bodies were found along a dirt road Thursday in Mexico's Sinaloa state, home to the powerful cartel of the same name.

The victims, whose hands were bound, were found near the town of Coyotitlan along with 80 bullet shells, federal police agent Juan de Dios Beltran said.

Mexico has been suffering from escalating drug violence amid a national crackdown on traffickers. Homicides have grown increasingly gruesome, with piles of bodies dumped in public, sometimes beheaded.

EDINBURGH — The latest magical tome by J.K. Rowling has started to fly off bookstore shelves.

Rowling launched "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" on Thursday with a tea party for 200 schoolchildren at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, where she lives.

The author is donating royalties from the book to a charity, which hopes it will raise millions to help vulnerable children.

Recession-hit booksellers hope the book — a collection of five fables mentioned in Rowling's saga about boy wizard Harry Potter — will give them a festive boost.