Yet now it appears that the far right sees an opening in the new atmosphere of angst that could help bolster its long-standing critiques of Islam and calls for tighter security and immigration caps. The terrorist violence is also fueling fears of a backlash against Muslims, particularly among France’s community of 5 million, the largest in Europe. Muslim leaders say the days after last week’s shootings have produced 54 “anti-Muslim attacks” – an unprecedented number that includes the beating of a Muslim boy after a moment of silence for last week’s victims as well as multiple arson attacks on mosques. “I’m very scared of what the National Front is going to try to do,” said Sarah Belhaddad, a 17-year-old French Muslim student in Paris.

Amid the tragedy, Marine Le Pen — the leader of the National Front, who once compared Muslim immigration to France to the Nazi occupation — has been going nonstop, drilling home her message that the French must stop being “angels.” Shunned by organizers of a historic national unity march Sunday in Paris, she opted to hold her own rally in the south of France. “This is a turning point for open debate,” Le Pen said in an interview Monday at her office in a western suburb of Paris. “If, after these attacks, politicians shut down any ability to debate these issues, the victims will have died twice.” She is not alone. In the days since the attack, from Spain to France to Germany, the far right has sought to leverage the events of last week. And it may be paying off.

In Germany, a growing anti-Islamic movement known as Pegida, which has deeply worried German politicians, has staged weekly marches in several cities since October. The largest, in the eastern city of Dresden, drew a record 25,000 anti-Islam protesters Monday night. That was 7,000 more than last week — even as organizers said they managed to spread their demonstrations to at least two other German cities, Munich and Leipzig. They also plan to start similar protests in other nations including Britain, Norway, Spain and Denmark.

Speaking to an audience in London which was streamed online to thousands of his followers, Rahman praised Al Qaeda and said ‘Britain is the enemy of Islam.’ Sam Westrop, director of counter-extremism group Stand for Peace told the Sunday Mirror: ‘His kind of rhetoric is not an echo of Islamist terror and extremism – it is a driving force behind it. It is truly reprehensible for him to speak like this, especially so soon after Paris.’

His speech on Friday night came to light after reporters from the Sunday Mirror gained access to an online live stream - they then notified the Metropolitan Police. The newspaper reported that in the video Rahman claimed France was carrying out 'ethnic cleansing', and told his followers what happened in France was 'war.'

But speaking in the European Parliament, Mr Farage brushed aside the claims he was ‘seeking to divide’ the country for political points.

He told MEPs: ‘We need an honest admission that actually our political decisions have led to much of what has happened. Just think about foreign policy – from Afghanistan through Iraq, through Libya and even the attempt to arm the rebels in Syria.

‘All of these we were told were to make our streets safer, when in fact what we have done is stir up real resentments within the Muslim community and it’s had the very opposite effect.’ He added that ‘mass immigration’ had ‘made it frankly impossible for many new communities to integrate’.

But Mr Farage said: ‘Perhaps worst of all we have been guilty of weakness – lack of courage – a lack of assertion of who we are as people. We’ve turned a blind eye to many of our minority communities to practices that would not be tolerated in the rest of the population. We’ve allowed preachers of hate to go around saying things that are totally unacceptable.

‘The result of all this is we have a fifth column living in our communities that is utterly opposed to our values and how we deal with that is vital for the future. Unless we are prepared to admit our own culpability in much of what has happened we are not going to be able to find solutions. We are going to have to be a lot braver and courageous in standing up for our Judeo-Christian culture.’

The figure is the most aggressive forecast issued so far by any major bank and implies quantitative easing (QE) of at least €2.3 trillion, two or even three times the level suggested so far by ECB officials. It comes amid a blizzard of leaks from Frankfurt over the size and shape of QE as the ECB prepares for a pivotal decision next week. Most analysts say sovereign bond purchases are almost certain after the currency bloc slumped into deflation in December, though legal and political barriers complicate the picture.

A German-led bloc of hawks has been trying to head off any form of debt mutualisation or fiscal union by the back door. This may lead to a messy compromise where the central bank of each country buys its own national debt rather than sharing the risk. This has been condemned by analysts as recipe for trouble, further fragmenting the currency union.

'We see painful evidence of this in the events reported daily in the news, not least the tragic slayings which took place in Paris a few days ago,' he said in his yearly speech to the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. 'Religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere ideological pretext,' he said.

Francis also denounced the 'abominable' kidnapping and enslavement of young girls by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria and the slaughter of 'unspeakable brutality' of more than 100 children by the Taliban in Pakistan.

Force ISPs to shut down, spy on, or block access to websites deemed objectionable by EU ministries.

All members of the EU should increase their use of psychological operations and propaganda. In particular, the EU should use the "Syria Strategic Communication Advisory Team" (built on UK Home Office psyops expertise ) set up in Belgium when possible.

The EU should increase internal advertising to increase sensitivity to human rights and values of a diverse population (aka avoid the type of "hate speech" that Charlie Hebdo published).

The crack down of firearms should be intensified. Existing firearms laws didn't have any impact on this attack. The attackers were well armed. Perhaps more aggressive laws will fix that.

The EU should coordinate with the US on cyber initiatives to develop a more comprehensive way to track, screen, and detain global travellers.

“The Islamists, which PEGIDA has been warning about for 12 weeks, showed France that they are not capable of democracy, but instead look to violence and death as an answer,” the group said on its Facebook page. “Our politicians want us to believe the opposite. Must such a tragedy happen here in Germany first?”

The slaughter at Charlie Hebdo, which was apparently attacked for publishing cartoons that mocked the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, could not have come at a more opportune time for PEGIDA and its activists. Their weekly protests against the perceived “Islamization” of Germany had been gaining momentum for months, but not quite as fast as the public and political backlash against them.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had even used her televised address on New Year’s Eve to condemn PEGIDA’s activists as having “coldness and even hate in their hearts.” Since mid-December, counterdemonstrations calling for tolerance and openness toward Muslim migrants around the country had begun to drown out PEGIDA’s rallies in Dresden.

But that trend could now be reversed. “The movement itself will definitely interpret [the attack on Charlie Hebdo] as a vindication for its very existence,” says Carool Kersten, who studies Islam at King’s College University in London. So when the group holds its next demonstration on Monday in Dresden, it will have a lot more momentum, and a new rallying cry, thanks to the terrorist attack in neighboring France. The coming months could then see the emergence of a powerful new force on the right wing of German politics.

The marchers wanted to demonstrate unity after the attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, police officers, and a kosher supermarket. The French government said the rally turnout was the highest on record. World leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, EU President Donald Tusk, and Jordan's King Abdullah II joined the beginning of the Paris march.

"We will bring together all of our allies to discuss ways in which we can counteract this violent extremism that exists around the world," Holder told reporters. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said after the meeting that European interior ministers had agreed to boost cooperation in an effort to thwart further jihadist attacks. "We all agree that we need to put in place better control on certain passengers, on the basis of objective criteria and with respect for fundamental liberties and without disrupting cross-border travel," he said.

He said Europe needed urgent progress in establishing a European Passenger Name Record database, which would facilitate the exchange of data about passengers between member states. "We are convinced of the need for such a tool, to follow those who travel to terrorist operating theaters or who return from there," he said, adding that this database would also be useful in the fight against other serious crimes.

Cazeneuve said the Internet needs to remain a space for free expression, but that Europe should fight against abusive use of the web to spread hate speech, anti-Semitic messages and the recruiting of vulnerable young people for violence. "We need to work more closely with Internet companies to guarantee the reporting and if possible removal of all content that amounts to an apology of terrorism or calls for violence and hatred," he said.

It didn’t happen overnight. It took many years of neglect for our liberties to be given away so casually for a promise of security from the politicians. The tragic part is that the more security was promised — physical and economic — the less liberty was protected.

With cradle-to-grave welfare protecting all citizens from any mistakes and a perpetual global war on terrorism, which a majority of Americans were convinced was absolutely necessary for our survival, our security and prosperity has been sacrificed. It was all based on lies and ignorance. Many came to believe that their best interests were served by giving up a little freedom now and then to gain a better life.

The explosion just before lunch killed 20, including the girl, and injured 18, according to the police. Boko Haram did not immediately claim the attack, but the Islamic insurgents have increasingly used young girls as human bombs as they carve an African “Caliphate” from the plains of northern Nigeria.

Today, Boko Haram controls about 20,000 square miles of territory - an area the size of Belgium. Within this domain, the black flag of jihad flies over scores of towns and villages scattered across the neighbouring states of Borno and Yobe.

The latest conquest was the fishing town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad, which fell to the Islamists last Wednesday.

“For five kilometres (three miles), I kept stepping on dead bodies until I reached Malam Karanti village, which was also deserted and burnt,” one surviving fisherman, Yanaye Grema, said. Boko Haram’s fighters have now achieved mastery over 11 local government areas with a total population exceeding 1.7 million people, according to the official 2006 census.