In brief: Death toll rises in frigid weather

WARSAW, Poland – Sixty-eight people have frozen to death in Poland since November, police said Wednesday as frosts and heavy snow struck the region.

Fifty-three people have died this month alone, police told the Polish Press Agency.

Officials appealed for citizens to notify police if they noticed drunk or homeless people outdoors, or elderly people who are unable to heat their homes.

Japan’s probe to Venus fails

TOKYO – A Japanese probe to Venus failed to reach orbit Wednesday and was captured by the sun’s gravitational pull in a setback to Japan’s space program, which will have to wait another six years to try again.

The failure in the crucial orbital insertion stage of the probe was a big letdown for Japan, which has never succeeded in an interplanetary mission but has marked some major successes in space on a relatively tight budget that is focused primarily on small-scale projects.

The probe, called Akatsuki, would have been the first that Japan had put in orbit around another planet. Japan launched a failed mission to Mars in 1998 that was plagued by technical glitches and finally abandoned in 2003.

Scores of inmates die in prison fire

SANTIAGO, Chile – A fire started during an inmate brawl swept through an overcrowded prison Wednesday, killing at least 81 people and seriously injuring 14.

The early morning blaze at San Miguel prison, which preliminary reports indicated may have been intentionally set, was the worst disaster in the history of Chile’s penitentiary system, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said.

The fire was under control in three hours.

Police operations director Jaime Concha insisted police acted quickly despite coping with 1,900 inmates at the prison built for 700.