Daily English Article — October 6, 2026

France announced plans to fully or partially close up to 500 schools on Monday amid a wave of increasingly violent student protests. Education Minister Edouard Geffray unveiled the precautionary closures on Sunday, framing them as part of a broader effort to achieve a 'partial, progressive return to lessons.' Despite a relative calm over the weekend, protest organisers confirmed they intended to resume large-scale demonstrations as early as Tuesday of the following week.

The protests, which first erupted in mid-September at a high school in a Paris suburb, were initially triggered by concerns over insufficient teaching staff, excessive school-day hours, and oversized class sizes. Since then, demonstrations have spread across the entire country, taking the form of class strikes, blockades, and street protests. Geffray confirmed that 24 schools had been 'burned or ransacked' since the unrest began, prompting authorities to suspend lessons wherever security could not be guaranteed.

By Friday, at least 400 of France's 3,700 high schools had been shut, while 560 others faced disruptions or active protests. The minister anticipated the scale of closures on Monday would be comparable. Interior ministry figures revealed that more than 5,000 people had been arrested in the preceding week alone, with 85 percent of those detained being minors. At least 170 students and 78 educational staff had sustained injuries since the movement began.

Protest organisers cited a lack of 'concrete measures' from President Emmanuel Macron's government as their justification for pressing ahead with fresh demonstrations on Tuesday. Rights organisation Amnesty International weighed in, urging authorities to listen to the students rather than repress them. Critics also raised concerns about what they described as 'disproportionate' police violence in responding to what were predominantly youth-led protests.

Education Minister Geffray pushed back against some of these criticisms, alleging in a radio interview that far-left activists had infiltrated the high school student movement and hijacked it from the students themselves, subsequently engaging in extreme violence. The tension between the government's security concerns and the protesters' educational grievances shows little sign of easing, with both sides appearing unwilling to yield ground in the short term.

With the long-anticipated Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake now released, developer Ubisoft is shifting its focus toward its next major entry in the franchise. That project, known internally as Codename Hexe, is reportedly steering away from the expansive RPG mechanics that defined recent instalments and returning to a more focused, linear structure. Set in Germany during the 16th-century witch trials, the game is said to pursue a significantly darker and more atmospheric tone than its predecessors.

According to information derived from casting calls conducted between 2023 and the present, the game's protagonist goes by the working name 'Petra.' She is described as a strong-willed woman in her mid-twenties who is wholly incapable of accepting the restrictive societal roles imposed on her during that era. The character combines a dutiful nature with radical thinking, suggesting she will be a morally complex lead navigating a deeply oppressive historical setting.

Two characters linked to Petra appear to be her parents. Her mother, referred to as 'Brigitte,' is a compassionate midwife in her early forties whose significance to the main plot is hinted at through rumours connecting the protagonist to the Auditore bloodline — a lineage well known to long-time fans of the series. Her father, 'Konrad,' is described as a religious and caring family man burdened with a dark occupation: he reportedly serves as the 'headsman of Neustadt,' adding a grim family dynamic.

The supporting cast introduces several additional figures. 'Bruno' is characterised as a large, dominant leader with a crude sense of humour, while 'Anton' is a shrewd and outwardly respectable operator who works behind the scenes. Separate leaks point to a mentor figure named 'Wolfgang,' though it is speculated that Bruno or Anton may be filling this role under different aliases. Rounding out the cast are 'Johanna,' a manipulative socialite; 'Theo,' a shy younger brother figure; and 'Erika,' an arrogant and status-obsessed young woman.

The modern-day storyline, a staple of the Assassin's Creed formula, features a character named 'Anna,' described as a driven and impatient career professional thriving in a high-pressure work environment. It is important to note that all character names disclosed in these casting calls are widely considered to be internal placeholders and may change significantly before the game's official release. Nonetheless, the details paint a vivid picture of a grounded, character-driven narrative that marks a deliberate departure from the franchise's recent direction.