Bashar al-Assad is so confident in his grip on power, he lifts subsidies on petrol by a whopping 130% overnight.

The catalyst of protests that ultimately ousted Sudan's Omar al-Bashir was the easing of bread subsidies by 40%.

Lebanon's ongoing protests started following the proposed $6 monthly charge for using WhatsApp.

But public anger doesn't seem to worry Assad at all.

Poverty in Syria is far worse than in Sudan or Lebanon: Syrians absolutely cannot afford further lifting of subsidies.

However, they fear opening their mouths. They plausibly choose hunger over torture.