Previously, Brazil's biggest World Cup loss was 3-0 to France in the 1998 final. This matched their biggest ever margin of defeat in any competition, equaling a 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920 in the South American championship, the predecessor of the Copa America.
Germany's Thomas Mueller (13) celebrates in front of Brazil's David Luiz (4) after scoring his side's first goal during the World Cup semifinal. Photo / AP
2. Mother's secret past uncovered
Police attempting to unravel the unexplained 2012 killing of a British-Iraqi family in the Alps have discovered that the mother, Iqbal al-Hilli, had a secret past.
Investigators have established that, unbeknown to her family, the wife of Saad al-Hilli lived in the United States between February 1999 and December 2000, during which time she was briefly married to a dentist 13 years older than her.
The dentist, identified by judicial sources as James T., died in Natchez, Mississippi on September 5, 2012, the same day as the Alps killing in which Saad, 50, Iqbal, 47, her mother and a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, were killed.
The cause of death of James T. was officially registered as a heart attack.
"As far as Iqbal is concerned, we have discovered some surprising things and we still do not have the response to certain questions," said Lieutenant-Colonel Benoit Vinnemann, the head of the detective unit investigating the murders.
3. Farmer rescues trapped drivers
Neighbour Thomas Knight looks at where a tree smashed through a Kaitaia house, trapping a woman inside. Photo / Dean Purcell
A local Kawakawa farmer has been hailed a hero after rescuing drivers of two vehicles trapped by flood waters this morning.
With the help of a police officer who climbed into a tractor front end loader, the motorists were rescued just before flood waters carried their vehicles away.
4. Nightmare crash puts paid to holiday
What was meant to be the start of a long-awaited family holiday turned into every parent's nightmare.
Ashley McPherson, of Riverton, vividly recalls the ''horror moment'' when he saw 5-year-old daughter Madison ''laying halfway out of the car'' after a crash near Balclutha on Monday morning.
Mr McPherson's partner, Katrina Peyton, was driving the family of four towards Balclutha, on their way to holiday in Christchurch, when she hit black ice and lost control about 7am.
Police say the car rotated on ''severe black ice'' and another vehicle collided with the back of the car.
5. Millionaires give Craig $675,000
Retired Hamilton multi-millionaires Laurence and Katrina Day say Governments should be forced to listen when the public speak via referendums and they've given $675,000 of their own money to Colin Craig's Conservative Party's election campaign in support of that belief.
Electoral Commission filings yesterday show the couple tipped another $500,000 into the Conservative Party campaign war chest, adding to the $175,000 they have previously donated to the party.
Mr Day, who received more than $10 million for his share of a private training organisation when it was sold recently, yesterday indicated he'll be giving more to Mr Craig's party and said: "Watch this space."
- nzherald.co.nz, NZ Herald, APNZ, AFP
