André Malraux, the prolific French critic and Minister of Culture under Charles de Gaulle, once wrote that art is an “anti-destin,” a revolt against destiny. And by that measure, the country’s recently-released report calling for a tax on internet-connected devices to fund cultural production qualifies simultaneously as artless and a work of art in itself. The generally well-intentioned document, authored by Pierre Lescure, a special advisor on France’s “exception culturelle” doctrine, was presented to President François Hollande on Monday, and Le Monde reported that it marks a departure from the aggressive copyright-protection tactics previously favored by Nicholas Sarkozy’s conservative government.

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We at GlobalPost live by a third certainty: The world is a weird and wondrous place. However, we didn't realize until recently how much the promises of weirdness and taxes overlap.

From extra charges on flavored vodka in the US to beards in Russia, here are the top six wackiest taxes we've found around the world:

1. Tax on smartphones and laptops in France

French President Francois Hollande is considering a tax on smartphones, laptops and tablets to finance the country's celebrated exception culturelle, or "cultural exception," a precious French principle enshrined in law.

The exception essentially requires that anything considered to be of cultural value to French society must be protected from erratic market forces and the pernicious spread of non-French cultural items — namely, American and other English-language influences.

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Along with the bullets, the Sigolsheim mayor was sent a copy of the interview scrawled over with homophobic slurs. He called the threat "odious."

As reported by English-language French news site the Local, Speitel is not the only French politician to receive death threats as the opposition to marriage equality in France becomes increasingly vocal -- and threatening:

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According toBusiness Insider, right wing lawmaker and gay marriage opponent Henri Guaino voted in favor of the bill legalizing gay marriage despite his opposition to the measure, blaming the electronic voting system for his mistake. Three other members of his party ran into the same problem, reports France's Le Point.

Guaino blamed the "activity" in the Assembly and the flashing lights of the voting system for his momentary confusion, according to a statement: "You saw the mess that was? I've never seen such a mess in the Assembly! There were three buttons flashing, yes, I [pushed] the wrong button!"

But rest assured, he adjusted his vote, even if it didn't change the eventual outcome: "I went to the services of the Assembly to correct my vote," he said.

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In the final reading of the proposal on Tuesday, the National Assembly voted 331 to 225 to adopt the bill. Soon after, anti-gay marriage protestors in Paris began to clash with riot police stationed in the area.

As reported by the Local:

Despite the requests of organizers that marchers disperse peacefully, a hard core group of around 500 refused to leave the Invalides.

Their anger soon boiled over as bottles and firecrackers were hurled at the riot police, who had blocked off a street leading to the parliament.

One officer was taken to hospital with a head wound after being hit by a brick. “The clashes were extremely violent,” one officer told French media.

Police, who responded with tear gas, made 12 arrests. The protesters also turned their ire on journalists in the vicinity, shouting “scumbags" and “collaborators” at the members of the press. At one point a mob of masked protesters chased a group of journalists down the street and a photographer from AFP was sprayed with tear gas.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls later said those arrested were linked to far-right organizations.

There were also violent clashes in the city of Lyon, where anti-gay marriage protesters took to the streets to express their anger. Police said they had made 44 arrests.

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But even with wide voting margins in the legislature and popular support among the public, opposition to the measure that would grant equal marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples has intensified in recent weeks. Protests in Paris have turned violent, and gay couples have been the victims of vicious assaults.

As The New York Times reports:

At the margins, the demonstrations have also become more violent and homophobic, with a series of nightly demonstrations last week around Parliament that resulted in clashes with riot police officers and a number of arrests. Even opposition leaders have bemoaned the way harder-right groups have infiltrated the demonstrations, and there has been a small surge in violence against gay men and lesbians, with some beatings and angry, offensive words on social media.

Two weeks ago, a Dutch-born man walking with his partner in Paris was beaten up. The man, Wilfred de Bruijn, posted a photograph of his bloodied face on his Facebook page, calling it “the face of Homophobia.” It has been shared thousands of times. Last week, two gay bars, in Bordeaux and Lille, were attacked, and a same-sex couple was attacked Saturday in Nice outside a gay nightclub.

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On Friday, the French Senate voted to approve same-sex marriage and adoption, a move that could bring about full change in the country as early as this summer (civil unions have been legal since 1999). France's justice minister Christiane Taubira, a vocal supporter of the measure, said Friday that the move would strengthen society "by granting the simple recognition of full citizenship to homosexual couples" and  "move our institutions towards ever more freedom, equality and personal respect." Yet conservatives in the French government vowed to continue to fight against the bill, declaring that "nothing is definitive and the debate continues."

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The vote in the upper house of parliament — led by President Francois Hollande's Socialists — comes despite boisterous protests. Opponents — mostly conservatives and fervent Roman Catholics — have sought to defend traditional marriage.

Both houses of parliament will now take up a second reading to consider minor Senate changes to the bill passed in February by the National Assembly, also controlled by a Socialist-led majority.

The bill would allow gay marriage and let same-sex couples adopt children. On the campaign trail last year, Hollande pledged to push through such legislation if elected.

About a dozen mostly European nations already allow gay marriage.

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Mr Hollande initially intended to have the camel vaccinated and transferred to a French zoo. But given the complex procedures required and "the rigours of the harsh French climate for a desert animal", he eventually decided to leave it in the care of a family in Timbuktu.

Mr Le Drian [France's defence minister] said the family apparently wasted no time slaughtering the animal and putting it in a traditional tagine. While mature camel is almost inedible, the flesh from young animals is said to be tender.

 

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They were. If anything, Martin downplays the ruthless bloodthirstiness of the Middle Ages and the people who ruled them. When Ving Rhames says "I'ma get medieval on your ass" in "Pulp Fiction," he's offering a truly terrifying threat. Make no mistake: Beneath the fairy-tale trappings -- velvet robes and golden crowns, stately castles and the lofty rhetoric of chivalry -- most rulers in the Middle Ages were essentially warlords. Herewith, a few of the worst, and some of their dastardly deeds.

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Yet if reports from the Local, an English-language French newspaper, are to be trusted, that's exactly where scores of enterprising smut peddlars are headed. Recently, the historic Catacombs of Paris has become a popular destination for adult filmmakers, models, and photographers, who are heading sixty feet underground to shoot against the backdrop of millions of human skulls and skeletons.

A spokesman for the Musee Carnavelet, the company that manages the catacombs, says that they receive at least one request for permission to film or take photos there every week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are not at all pleased with this trend.

“Obviously, we say no. This is a sacred place, which houses the remains of six million Parisians. We only allow serious or scientific documentaries,” the spokesman said. 

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The shirt was disturbing enough that the boy's teacher alerted authorities, and Bagour, along with her brother who bought Jihad the shirt, are being charged with "glorifying crime."

But Bagour thought the shirt would “make people laugh,” and her brother insists that "It's the day (of) his birth I wanted to highlight, not the year," the BBC reports. Bagour attempted to defend herself, saying, "We were never trying to claim responsibility for this thing or defend a cause."

Prosecutors are hoping to fine them more than $5,000, collectively. “Idiocy is often the best alibi to hide the real intentions. The most scandalous thing is that they’ve used and manipulated a three-year-old child to voluntarily convey the words of a terrorist," lawyer Claude Avril told Sky News.

The trial will conclude on April 10.

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Gilles Jacob, the festival's president, recounted how he had been trying to get the award-winning director to head the jury for years - but the American was always working. Finally, this year, Spielberg got in touch.

"When this year I was told `E.T., phone home,' I understood and immediately replied: `At last!'" Jacob said in a statement posted on the festival's website Thursday.

Spielberg, who was nominated but didn't win the directing Oscar for his biopic "Lincoln" this week, takes the reins from Italian Nanni Moretti. The 66th Cannes festival takes place in the glamorous French Mediterranean resort from May 15 to 26.

Spielberg's presence will likely give more of an American flavor this year to the Cannes festival, a mélange of intellectual international cinema and Hollywood glamour. Jury presidents in the festival's seven-decade history have included such figures as Tennessee Williams, Ingrid Bergman, Roman Polanski and Francis Ford Coppola.

Spielberg has had several films show at Cannes, and "E.T." had its world premiere there in 1982. His first film, "Sugarland Express," won best screenplay at Cannes in 1974.

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"They were present at the blending sessions this year, and are relooking at everything from the installations in the winery - where we have already switched to stainless steel tanks - to reworking the labels across the range of wines," Perrin told Decanter.

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The capture of Kidal came just days after French and Malian forces retook two other provincial capitals - Gao and Timbuktu - that also had been under harsh Islamic rule for nearly 10 months.

"Nobody questions France's rapid deployment but the ability to hold on to the cities and territory is an immense challenge. It is not clear how they will be able to sustain the recent gains," said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House.

"The Islamist extremists have not been defeated; they have melted into the heat haze of the desert."

Many fear the Islamists now will attempt to hide among civilian populations in small outlying villages, only to return and attack the weaker African forces once the French are gone.

The Islamists are believed to have an elaborate system of caves and other desert hideouts that they have constructed over the last year as momentum for a West African regional military intervention stalled.

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Demonstrators waved banners emblazoned with phrases such as "Equality of rights is not a threat" as they began marching Sunday from Denfert-Rochereau square in the southern part of the city.

The march drew 125,000 demonstrators into the streets, according to police. That was well above the number counted by police at a similar march in December, but far less than the estimated 340,000 that turned out for a demonstration by those opposed to the proposal two weeks ago.

About 63% of French people favour legalising gay marriage, according to a survey released on Saturday, up from 60% in December.

The Socialist-dominated parliament is due to begin debate on the bill on Tuesday and is expected to pass it. If the bill is approved, France would become the 12th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.

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The French air strikes, which began on Jan. 11, were in response to a southward advance from Islamist forces that had wrested control of the northern half of the country.

The strikes have successfully put the Islamists on the back foot, allowing the Malian army to claw back territory held, in some cases, for months.

On Monday, after days of precisely targeted bombing raids, Malian and French troops occupied the key town of Diabaly, about 275 miles north of the capital Bamako.

Sixty-year-old Adama Natoume was asleep in bed when three vehicles exploded outside his one-room house in Diabaly. Shrapnel flew in through the window but while the outer wall was left charred and a little ragged, there was no other damage.

“I had never heard a noise so loud,” Natoume said, recalling the raid.

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Douentza had been held by Islamist rebels for four months, located 190 kilometers (120 miles) northeast from Mopti, the previous line-of-control held by the Malian military in Mali's narrow central belt. The Islamist fighters have controlled the vast desert stretches of northern Mali, with the weak government clinging to the south, since a military coup in the capital in March unleashed chaos.

French and Malian troops arrived in Douentza Monday to find that the Islamists had retreated from the town, said a resident, Sali Maiga.

"The Malian military and the French army spent their first night and the people are very happy," Maiga said Tuesday.

A curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., and there no gunfire or other incidents were reported overnight, he said.

In September, a convoy of pickup trucks carrying bearded men entered Douentza, and in the months that followed the Islamist extremists forced women to wear veils and enlisted children as young as 12 as soldiers in training.

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