On Wednesday 15 January, we held our third live chat with one of our Green Primary contenders. This time Monica Frassoni was the person behind the keyboard, answering questions from all four corners of Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Monica's home country of Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain. Both the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom were well represented, reflecting the debates that we'll be holding there on Friday 17 January (Prague) and Saturday 18 January (London) – you can find out more about those debates here.

The four contenders in the Green Primary will be taking part in two separate debates this week, in Prague and London. The Prague debate, hosted by the Czech Green party Strana zelených will take place on Friday 17 January. The London debate, hosted by the Green Party of England and Wales, will take place the next day, on Saturday 18 January.

The four Green Primary contenders are debating across Europe, to make sure people make an informed decision when they vote. The 5th debate took place in Berlin on January 10 was the 5th, with five more primary debates to go until the eventual winners emerge as the Green Leading Candidates.

Countries in central Europe have been hit by severe flooding this week. Extreme rainfall has caused rivers across the region to break their banks, with the Danube and Elbe particularly affected. People living in affected regions in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia have been evacuated from their homes. 13 people are known to have died.