Unrest in Indonesia over rising prices

A crowd protesting at rising prices caused by the economic crisis in Indonesia has burnt down a supermarket and looted shops in Jember in eastern Java.

It's the latest of a series of similar protests in eastern Java this week and follows a near doubling of food prices.

On Thursday, President Suharto agreed to a harsh IMF austerity package to try to end the crisis which has seen the Indonesian currency lose some seventy per cent of its value over the past six months.

The reform package failed to give any significant boost to the rupiah on the currency markets, but Indonesian stocks rose in value by almost four per cent on Friday.

Share indexes in Hong Kong and Tokyo also rose sharply during the day.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service