The Australian and international news stories you need to know today, Thursday June 4.

More charges laid over the death of George Floyd.

The four Minneapolis police officers present when George Floyd died during an arrest that’s sparked protests around the world have been charged.

Derek Chauvin, the officer pictured using his knee to hold Floyd down by his neck, had previously been charged with third-degree murder. He is now facing a charge of second-degree murder.

The three other police officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, CNN reports.

The Floyd family are "deeply gratified" by the charges.

Yesterday the mother of Floyd's six-year-old daughter gave a brief statement to the media, and has since sat down with CNN for a longer interview.

She explained how she told Gianna her father had died.

"She was standing by the door and said 'Mumma is there something going on with my family?' and I said why do you say that and she replied 'I hear them saying my dad's name on TV.' She wanted to know how he died. The only thing I could tell her was that he couldn't breathe," Roxie Washington said.

I asked the mother of George Floyd’s six-year-old daughter how she even began to explain to the daughter what had happened. Roxie Washington said, “The only thing I could tell her is that he couldn’t breathe.” More of our interview here: #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/BA9EdtUiRk

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) June 3, 2020

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces details of $25,000 HomeBuilder program, amid recession.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia's first recession in nearly 30 years is heartache for the country.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed on Wednesday he had been advised the nation was in recession, as official figures showed a 0.3 per cent drop in growth in the March quarter.

"It's a lot of heartache for Australians, that's what it is," Mr Morrison told Brisbane radio 4BC when asked how he would describe the recession.

Today’s National Accounts shows the remarkable resilience of the Australian economy in the face of a 1 in 100 year pandemic.

Australia has avoided the health & economic fate of many other nations. While there will be difficult days ahead, we can be confident about our future. pic.twitter.com/rOU5gigkSk

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) June 3, 2020

"At the end of the day, these aren't numbers these are about people. People have lost jobs and our job now is to win that battle for jobs."

The June quarter figures, to be released in September, are expected to reflect the downturn caused by the lockdown Australia entered to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two consecutive quarters of negative growth define a recession.

Unions and business say the recession shows the need for further government support beyond the six months envisioned when the coronavirus pandemic hit.

ACTU president Michele O'Neil said the government needed a comprehensive plan to create jobs and lift Australia out of the COVID-19 crisis.

The union movement has proposed an eight-point plan which includes lifting wages and living standards, investing in public and community services, infrastructure spending and investment in education and training.

The Morrison government on Thursday announced a $688 million HomeBuilder package, offering Australians $25,000 grants for new homes and renovations in a bid to have a 'tradie-led recovery' for the economy.

Mr Frydenberg told reporters the government would announce changes to JobKeeper in July, alongside a budget update which had initially been scheduled for June.

A ninth day of protests as Trump claims he's done "more for Black Americans than any President."

Protests continued overnight but were largely peaceful, with the nation’s streets calmer than they have been in days.

Trump, however, inflamed tensions with a series of tweets overnight claiming to have done "much more for our Black population than Joe Biden has done in 43 years."

"I’ve done more for Black Americans, in fact, than any President in U.S. history," he boasted.

In 3 1/2 years, I’ve done much more for our Black population than Joe Biden has done in 43 years. Actually, he set them back big time with his Crime Bill, which he doesn’t even remember. I’ve done more for Black Americans, in fact, than any President in U.S. history, with...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2020

He pointed to a number of his administration’s policies, including “guaranteed funding” for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), passing criminal justice reform and noting America’s lowest “black unemployment, poverty, and crime rates in history."

Trump is considered largely responsible for ending NRL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's career, after he publicly eviscerated him for his peaceful protests in 2016 over the very issues African Americans are taking to the streets over right now - police brutality and systemic racism.

His response during the current protests have been littered with racist rhetorics, using words like "thugs" and phrases like "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" to incite violence.

READ: In 2016, Colin Kaepernick silently 'took a knee'. Four years later, people are finally listening.

Aussie journalist assaulted in London protest.

An Australian journalist has been assaulted by a man armed with a screwdriver on television during a live cross in central London.

Nine News' Europe correspondent Sophie Walsh was covering a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park when she was attacked.

Thank you for your messages. The man has been arrested for threats to kill and carrying a weapon. I’m shaken but ok. Big thanks to my incredible camerman Jason Conduit who chased him down armed with a light stand and got him arrested. https://t.co/YRxrUB3j4l

— Sophie Walsh (@sophie_walsh9) June 3, 2020

Walsh was speaking during a live cross for Adelaide's 6pm news bulletin, but was not in front of the camera, when the incident happened as footage of the day's earlier protests in Paris was being screened.

A man allegedly yelled "Allah Akbar" before making stabbing motions and grabbing Walsh.

Thousands marched through London overnight chanting "no justice, no peace, no racist police."

Indigenous teen's family wants cop charged.

The family of an indigenous teenager who had his legs kicked out from beneath him while being arrested in Sydney has called for the police constable responsible to be charged.

The sister of the 16-year-old said her family was angry and frustrated following the incident in a Surry Hills park on Monday when the teen was arrested after appearing to threaten to assault the police officer.

Police officer in viral Indigenous teen arrest video should be charged, family says https://t.co/FZgDIFEVel

— ABC News (@abcnews) June 3, 2020

"The frustration of being constantly targeted by police ... and not being able to place your trust in people who are employed to protect to you, is sad and worrisome," she told reporters.

"This police officer must be charged so we don't have to deal with another incident like this."

The boy's mother said her son shouldn't feel like he was living "inside a prison made up of the whole world".

NSW Police is investigating after the youth was taken to hospital with minor injuries following his arrest which was captured on a mobile phone and posted to social media.

Madeleine McCann suspect identified.

A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The 43-year-old German national is known to have been in and around Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast at the time Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007.

She had been on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie.

A half-hour phone call was made to the German man's Portuguese mobile phone around an hour before Madeleine is believed to have gone missing.

The suspect, who is in prison in Germany for an unrelated matter, has been linked to a camper van that was pictured in the Algarve in 2007.

Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance.

He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007.

The day after Madeleine went missing, the suspect got the car re-registered in Germany under someone else's name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal.

Madeleine vanished shortly before her fourth birthday and would have turned 17 last month.

A statement from Madeleine's parents, read by Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, welcomed the new police appeal.

"All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice," the McCanns' statement said.

Around the world.

- Australians Kirsty Boden and Sara Zelenak, murdered along with six others in the London Bridge attacks, have been remembered three years on from their deaths.

- An Australian man in his 50s has died in Indonesia after complaining of breathing problems, with fears he might have died from COVID-19.

- India's coronavirus cases surpass 200,000, with the health ministry warning the peak could still be weeks away.

- With AAP

Feature image: Getty/Leila Navidi/Star Tribune.