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Hoefl-Riesch wins women's super-combined

SCHLAMDING, Austria, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany overcame a glitch in her downhill and roared back to win the women's super-combined at the Alpine World Championships in Austria.

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Hoefl-Riesch was in fourth place after the downhill Friday but completed the slalom segment in a career-best 50.05 seconds for a combined time of 2 minutes, 39.92, which edged World Cup overall points leader Tina Maze by 0.46 seconds.

Hoefl-Riesch had been en route to a flawless downhill when she made a slight mistake in the second half that slowed her down.

"I would have never thought to beat Tina in this race," said Hoefl-Riesch, who is second in the overall standings. "I didn't come here as a favorite but have reached my goal to win a medal."

Nicole Hosp of Austria placed third and Julia Mancuso was the top U.S. skier with an eighth-place finish.

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"I knew it was going to be a really big fight for the gold medal today," Mancuso said. "Both courses were in perfect condition but I had a mistake in the downhill so I wasn't expecting much."


Netanyahu: Soccer club fire 'racist'

JERUSALEM, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Authorities in Jerusalem said a fire at the offices of the Israeli soccer club Beitar was set intentionally and the prime minister called it a "racist" act.

The fire caused heavy damage at the offices early Friday, investigators said.

It followed other violent incidents that came after the club signed two Muslim players last month, Haaretz reported.

Asaf Abras, a fire department spokesman, said the heaviest fire damage was in a section of the club where there were trophies and a storage room.

"Some items were collected at the scene and sent to the forensic lab," Abras said. "At this point, we've determined that this was arson."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the suspected arson as "shameful" and "racist."

"The Jewish person that has suffered boycotts and expulsions must serve as 'light unto the nations,'" he said.

Four Beitar Jerusalem fans were indicted Thursday on charges including harassment of the Muslim players Gabriel Kadiev and Zaur Sadaev, both from Chechnya.

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Relay device led to Super Bowl outage

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- An electrical relay device, installed to protect against power problems at New Orleans' Superdome, has been determined to be the cause of the Super Bowl outage.

Entergy New Orleans said Friday the device had been installed to protect Mercedes-Benz Superdome equipment in event of a cable failure. The device triggered, causing a switch to open when it shouldn't have -- resulting in about half the lights in the Superdome to go out early in the second half of Sunday's Super Bowl.

"While some further analysis remains, we believe we have identified and remedied the cause of the power outage and regret the interruption that occurred during what was a showcase event for the city and state," Charles Rice, president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, said Friday.

Entergy said the device worked without problems during a series of previous events, including the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans Bowl and the Saints' regular-season finale. Still, the relay has been removed.

The power outage caused the Super Bowl to be delayed about 35 minutes. When it resumed, with San Francisco trailing Baltimore 28-6, the 49ers mounted a comeback but came up short and the Ravens won the game 34-31.

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Fisher ties Sterne for Joburg Open lead

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Trevor Fisher Jr. just missed a course record Friday in moving into a tie with Richard Sterne halfway through the European Tour's Joburg Open in South Africa.

Fisher had an eagle and seven birdies in a 9-under-par 62 on the West Course at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. The course record is 61, held by Charl Schwartzel.

Sterne played the tougher East Course Friday and turned in a bogey-free, 7-under 65. He and Fisher are at 15-under 128, three up on the field with 36 holes to play.

The tournament is conducted on the East and West courses the first two days with the final two rounds at the East Course.

George Coetzee, on the East Course, shot a second-round 64 and is alone in third at 12-under. Schwartzel, who had a West Course 65, is tied with Keith Horne and Felipe Aguilar for fourth at 10-under for the tournament. Horne and Aguilar each shot 66 on the East Course.

Fisher had an eagle at the par-5 second hole and added birdies at Nos. 3 and 9 but he really made his move with a 5-under 30 on the second nine. That included three consecutive birdies over Nos. 15-17.

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Sterne opened with a birdie and mad his turn at 4-under. He closed with three birdies in his final four holes.

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