A late victory over Slovakia last night keeps Ireland’s women firmly in the hunt to challenge European champions the Netherlands for a place at next year’s World Cup.

Jessica Kurten narrowly missed the jump-off for the Swiss Life Classic prize at Zurich, Switzerland today when she dropped a single pole in the first round.

Jessica Kurten has come in equal second at the Swiss Life Challenge International Jumping Competition in Zurich.

A powerful bomb has blown up a gas pipeline in a remote town of insurgency-wracked south-western Pakistan, gutting dozens of shops but causing no casualties, a government official said today.