| Good morning, It's Friday at last, although those of us who make up the two million people moving into tier 4 restrictions may be a little less excited about the weekend. If you value what we do and are willing to support us, you can do so by taking out a digital subscription with us from just £3 a month. Try us out today and support our journalism. BBC Scotland on the defensive BBC Scotland has defended its decision to continue broadcasting the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing. The defence of the decision to broadcast the briefing from St Andrew’s House comes following fierce criticism by former UK Government minister and former Labour MP Brian Wilson, who accused the state of broadcaster of being “taken for a ride” in The Scotsman earlier this week. Here's what the BBC had to say in response to accusations the briefings are an “exercise in political spin and news management" Everything you can and can't do in Scotland as of today Millions of Scots will face different coronavirus restrictions today, when several local authorities will be placed in higher levels of Scotland’s regional lockdown system. From 6pm this evening, 11 council areas will be placed in Level 4 - the highest tier - for three weeks. Find out about the rules in your area, if and when they're changing and what it means for you here. Travel ban backed by MSPs MSPs voted in favour of the principle of the new travel ban due to come into force on Friday despite serious concerns around the legality of the legislation and human rights’ concerns. Scottish Labour had forced a vote on the travel ban by putting forward an amendment to prevent the restrictions being enshrined in law amid claims from leader Richard Leonard the ban was “not common sense”, but “nonsense and the government knows it” Do you agree with the proposed travel ban? Have your say in our comments section and read the full plan here. The Scotsman Sessions Okay, now onto something we're a wee bit proud of. The Scotsman has been shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category at the British Journalism Awards for The Scotsman Sessions - a series of video performances recorded by Scottish artists during the coronavirus pandemic and released on scotsman.com, with introductions written by Scotsman critics. When the pandemic hit in March our Arts team were very quick to try new ways to support Scottish music artists. The result was The Scotsman Sessions. You might not have come across the series before so we recommend starting here and picking a couple to watch. So much work has gone into these (there are well over 100) and we're delighted for Arts Editor Roger Cox and his team. And finally... Have you tried our interactive puzzle pages yet? We update them daily for our digital subscribers. They're perfect for getting the brain going. Here's a clue from today's quick crossword: Bewilder (9) Thanks for reading, if you have any feedback about this newsletter, let me know. Sam Shedden | 
