The Indonesian army has ended a controversial practice of virginity tests on women who apply to become cadets, according to its chief of staff, a move welcomed by activists who have long campaigned against it.

"Two-finger tests", where doctors check the hymen of female recruits to try to determine their virginity, was systematic, abusive and cruel, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), which conducted investigations in 2014 and 2015 into the practice and in 2017 renewed calls for it to end...