In this age of crisis, technology is pulling us apart. At its best, journalism can bring us together again, writes Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner

I have a confession to make. It has taken me years to write this article.

For a long time, I have felt that something was missing in the public conversation about human connection and community and how they are being eroded. And yet I haven’t been able to articulate it. Thinking and writing have become harder. It’s as if the neurons in my brain don’t connect with each other in quite the same way. I go to check a fact and get instantly diverted by a hundred other distractions on my phone. I find myself unable to devote time to thinking and writing like I used to.

The funniest comedy on British TV is back. Its stars talk about scruffiness, mortifying encounters with the public and why they’ve loved each other for two decades

In a north London TV studio, there’s a sense of unpredictability in the air. A gaggle of singing teenagers are on set; there’s a dog traipsing around; and – just down the hall in the canteen – Joanna Lumley has paused our interview to very politely ask a catering lady not to pack up her tangerine for her. “Darling, I literally cry with gratitude but I don’t need it in a box this time, it can travel on its own,” she purrs. She’s as poised as you might imagine – even if she looks ready for an arctic expedition, wrapped in a big mustard puffer jacket against the December cold. “Sorry, I’ve gone off on a tangent.”

We’re talking about Amandaland, the funniest and biggest comedy on British TV. Masterminded by the crack team of Sharon Horgan, Barunka O’Shaughnessy, Helen Serafinowicz, Laurence Rickard and Holly Walsh, this spin-off of the Bafta-winning Motherland has shifted the focus from perma-stressed Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) to pretentious side character Amanda (Lucy Punch) and her mother, Felicity, played by Lumley. The show has been an undeniable hit, with the Christmas special – an Absolutely Fabulous reunion set at Aunt Joan’s (Jennifer Saunders) decrepit country pile – the most-watched comedy over 2025’s festive season, with 7.4 million viewers.

The newly found belief Mikel Arteta’s side have shown has now carried them into the Champions League final

There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Arsenal, having failed to capitalise on so many opportunities over the past few years, have suddenly and not entirely expectedly seized their chance. A week ago, their course seemed uncertain, the waters choppy; quite abruptly, the skies have cleared and, the wind in their sails, Arsenal are sailing on towards potential glory.

Atlético tested them and they came through it to reach their first Champions League final in 20 years. Whether it’s Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern they will meet in Budapest, that challenge will be very different to this one but the important thing is they are there. It was perhaps inevitable that if they were going to go through it would be 1-0, not just for old times’ sake but because this was an old-fashioned kind of semi‑final, won not through the sort of attacking pyrotechnics of the first leg of PSG v Bayern, but through discipline and resolve.

Scottish and Welsh nationalism will be further radicalised if Reform UK sets the tone of debate over inclusion in the British state

Keir Starmer has neither a heartland nor a stronghold. That is the picture likely to emerge once all the votes in this week’s local and devolved elections have been counted.

Council seats in Labour’s traditional northern-English working-class base will fall to Reform UK. Parts of inner London, where the electoral map has been red for decades, will go Green.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

Jet fuel has doubled in price since the start of the war on Iran. How bad will the disruption get and could this accelerate the route to jet zero?

What happens to flights if the world runs out of oil? Well, obviously they will be grounded. To be more specific, is it possible, if the war in Iran does not resolve and the strait of Hormuz remains blocked, that airlines will simply run out of aviation fuel?

It’s not a question anyone has had to ask before. Air travel has hit some hurdles this century that nobody could have seen coming – Covid, of course, but also the Icelandic volcano in 2010, which closed much of European airspace for eight days, cost an estimated €3.75bn (£3.2bn) and caused untold supply chain chaos. There have been problems contained within a country or region – the Heathrow substation outage and the Iberian energy crisis, both last year, both closing airports – but since air travel began, it has never been globally impeded by a fuel shortage.

Will Reform take Sunderland, or the Greens take Hackney? Can Plaid Cymru take a historic victory in Wales, and will Labour be forced into third place in Scotland? We examine the possible outcomes for election night

The Scottish, Welsh, and local English elections on Thursday 7 May are a huge test for all the main political parties – and may be existential for Keir Starmer as prime minister and Labour leader.

The elections, two years into a Labour government, will see more than 30 million people across England, Wales and Scotland vote in the devolved administrations, in six mayoral races, and for more than 4,500 councillors in city and county councils.

US president says he is pausing US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the strait of Hormuz but blockade remains

Donald Trump announced he is pausing ‘Project Freedom’, the US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the strait of Hormuz, so he can finalise a deal with Iran, but added that his blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.

Trump’s abrupt change of plan was declared in a social media post, saying he was pausing the effort for “a short period” to give space for US efforts to finalise a settlement with Iran to end the war.

Leader of administration says decision to send ship there is ‘not based on any technical criteria’ and not enough has been done to guarantee the safety of the public

Separately, the World Health Organization is reporting that there is on-going evacuation of three people from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, via AFP.

Three people – two crew members and one other person – thought to be infected with the virus were being taken off the MV Hondius, anchored off Cape Verde, the WHO said.

Green leader said he hosted fundraisers for the Red Cross but accepts he should not have described himself as a spokesperson for it

Zack Polanski defended the Green party’s proposal to legalise hard drugs in his Today programme interview. He stressed that the policy was “to legalise and regulate, and the regulate is important”.

He told the programme

The war on drugs has clearly failed. It has failed in cities right across this country and more and more people are often taking dangerous drugs.

So, do we want people to buy them on the black market or on street corners? Or do we want people to go to a pharmacy or a medical health professional where, if they have an addiction to dangerous drugs, we can work with them to take a public health approach based on harm reduction?

A lot of police time is spent on stop and search for cannabis use, for instance. It doesn’t escape people’s notice that that is often in the politics of racism. If you’re a young black person, I think it’s something like you’re 18 times more likely to be stopped and searched than your white peer, despite the fact there’s no evidence that they’re more likely to to be dealing or using drugs.

And so I think it’s important that we make sure the police time is spent properly, which I think is about community prevention, about cohesiveness and bringing communities together.

My very first response to the attack was to be horrified, as everyone was, I’m sure, and the first thing I posted was solidarity to the victim, to the family, and indeed, to people who are suffering right now.

Two things can be true at the same time: officers are incredibly brave when they run towards scenes of crimes that most people, including myself, will want to run away from.

At the same time, I think it is accurate, and that I was also traumatised by seeing someone handcuffed and repeatedly kicked in the head …

Plans to be included in king’s speech will allow tougher action against proxies for foreign powers such as Iran

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Offenders who commit antisemitic attacks backed by foreign powers such as Iran will face 14 years in prison under legislation to be included in the king’s speech next week.

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will be given the power under the National Security Act to designate proxy groups, such as those thought to be behind the recent attacks on the Jewish community, as a foreign intelligence service.