Students and police clash on Jakarta streets

Hundreds of people joined protests outside Indonesia's presidential palace yesterday, throwing rocks and setting fires to demand that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono step down.

Police clashed with the protesters before firing tear gas and warning shots to disperse the crowd. Smaller demonstrations were held elsewhere across the island nation to mark the start of the second year of Mr Yudhoyono's second five-year term.

Public support ratings have plunged for Mr Yudhoyono, who promised when he took office six years ago to fight corruption, improve human rights and revive the economy. Many Indonesians say he did little of significance during the past year.

In the protests in the capital Jakarta, one young man was hospitalised with injuries to his leg. Witnesses described police beating several other demonstrators with batons.