Forty-five years ago today, on a sunny afternoon in north London, West Germany were overcome 4-2 at Wembley.

Britain is pressing the European Union to threaten to halt aid to countries in the Arab world who do not live up to their promises on democracy, human rights and economic reform.

A German court yesterday convicted three men of fraud for their part in the most serious match-fixing scandal to hit European football. A World Cup qualifier and a Champions League qualifier were among more than 20 games fixed by Ante Sapina, a Croat who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

One might have assumed that renting an entire country would be the most extortionate of transactions. But the Principality of Liechtenstein is allegedly available for a remarkably reasonable £40,000 a night.

It's an attractive Alpine retreat, offering excellent skiing, a fairy-tale castle and a compact 62 square miles to explore. And now, the entire country of Liechtenstein is yours to hire (allegedly) for just £40,000 a night.

Britain is entering into talks with three tax havens which could help raise £10 billion for the Treasury by 2015, it was revealed today.

Scotland manager Craig Levein has stressed that beating the Faroe Islands is his main aim next week despite naming an experimental squad for the Pittodrie friendly.

UK taxpayers with Swiss bank accounts could soon be forced to pay tax on the interest they earn on savings held there, it emerged today.

Having required 96 minutes to deal with Liechtenstein, ranked 141st in the world, Scotland do not embark on their two games in the next five days accompanied by a sense of optimism, certainly not with Spain, standing a mere 140 places higher than the last visitors to Hampden, heading for Glasgow next week.