Syria faces widespread protests after government hikes fuel prices up to 40%

In a country where economic endurance has long been tested, Syria's government announced fuel price increases of up to 40 percent for diesel and 28 percent for gasoline, citing rising import costs and reduced output from the Baniyas refinery. The decision, framed by officials as a necessary reckoning with economic reality, was met instead with a reckoning of a different kind — people in cities and towns across the country stepping into the streets to say that reality had already become too heavy to bear. It is a moment that speaks to a truth older than any single policy: when the cost of survi