outbound http requests / new plugins page

Hi

I initially reported this to the bug tracker but they advised me to post it here. I hope you can help.

For a week or more, when I go to Find Plugins it won’t display any results, just:

An unknown error occurred
Try again

I can download and install plugins from the directory, and the installed plugins screen works fine, it’s just Add New Plugins.

the site is https://www.technobiophilia.com

Incidentally, I don’t know if this is connected but today I heard from someone who filled in my mailchimp/wordpress form 3 times but it never reached mailchimp. Could this be connected to issues with outbound http requests? Other forms filled in today did work.

Hope you can help
thanks
Sue