Indonesian protests at price rises

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in Indonesia to protest against increases in fuel prices last week.

There have been demonstrations in several cities, including the capital, Jakarta, where a crowd called for President Megawati Sukarnoputri to be overthrown.

Protestors are reported to have burned effigies of the President in Bandung and Semarang on the island of Java.

Critics accuse the government of penalising Indonesia's poor by putting up the cost of fuel, an issue which has triggered social unrest in the past.

The latest increases were introduced last Thursday and coincided with higher electricity and phone tariffs.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service