today at one — one man has died and over 300 flood warnings remain in place across britain in the aftermath of storm henk. the terrifying effects of the storm — as well as areas under water, there are power cuts and disruption to travel. at the start of the longest strike in nhs history — junior doctors in england take action for six consecutive days. double finishes of double ten. the mighty littler — also known as luke the nuke — but can he win in tonight's world championship final? # i can buy myself flowers # write my name in the sand and how female artists dominated the uk singles charts in 2023. coming up on bbc news we will tell you why emma raducanu has been given

direct entry to the australian open later this month. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at 0ne. junior doctors in england have begun a six—day walkout in their dispute about pay — the longest strike ever to take place in the nhs. tens of thousands of routine operations and appointments are likely to be postponed as hospitals focus on emergency care. the strike started at 7am this morning and will last for six days. it will end at 7am next tuesday january 9th. members of the doctors' union, the british medical association, have asked for a 35% pay increase — but the government says its demands are unrealistic.

let's speak to sharon barber who is at the royal victoria infirmary in newcastle. you have been there during the morning. what is the mood on the picket line?— on the picket line? around 50 “unior doctors came — on the picket line? around 50 “unior doctors came out i on the picket line? around 50 “unior doctors came out on i on the picket line? around 50 “unior doctors came out on the fi on the picket line? around 50 junior doctors came out on the picket - on the picket line? around 50 junior doctors came out on the picket line | doctors came out on the picket line and the mood was defiant, they were determined, they were angry, and absolutely saying they were not going to lose this fight with the government over pay. they were not going to back down. they did say and when you talk about the strike action lasting all the way through until tuesday, action lasting all the way through untiltuesday, it action lasting all the way through until tuesday, it is absolutely extraordinary, they say they could call it off but only if the government comes back to them with that final offer that they have been promising. they said they have waited all christmas with it, that final offer. in that final offer has to be a credible offer that they can put to members and then they will call at all. they have been hearing

the government say call of the strikes, come back to the negotiating table and let's find a fair and reasonable settlement. the mood in the hospital is very different. it is anxious, they are deeply concerned, they are worried about staffing levels in departments. they are worried about the weights nand. worried about ambulances being held up. and worried about discharging patients without the juniors, the consultants can only really a firefight. 0f can only really a firefight. of course we mentioned tens of thousands of operations and appointments being cancelled, tens of thousands ofjunior doctors have walked off across england. a very, very difficult six days ahead. what we can expect is perhaps some of the longest waits that the nhs has ever seenin longest waits that the nhs has ever seen in a&e. but a real, really important message to the public is if you have an urgent or

life—threatening conditions you should call 999 and you should seek emergency care. if you don't. then please avoid coming to end the occupation of a long wait. for an overview of _ occupation of a long wait. for an overview of what _ occupation of a long wait. for an overview of what has _ occupation of a long wait. for an overview of what has been - occupation of a long wait. for an overview of what has been going occupation of a long wait. for an i overview of what has been going on in hospitals are crossing and here is our health correspondence will be hutchison. ~ ., ., ., �*y hutchison. what do we want? by restoration- _ hutchison. what do we want? by restoration. a _ hutchison. what do we want? by restoration. a new _ hutchison. what do we want? by restoration. a new year - hutchison. what do we want? by restoration. a new year but - hutchison. what do we want? by restoration. a new year but stilll hutchison. what do we want? by l restoration. a new year but still no end in sight _ restoration. a new year but still no end in sight to _ restoration. a new year but still no end in sight to the _ restoration. a new year but still no end in sight to the junior— restoration. a new year but still no end in sight to the junior doctors . end in sight to the junior doctors pay dispute that started last spring. the six—day work—out is the longest yet and comes in this first week of january, longest yet and comes in this first week ofjanuary, a longest yet and comes in this first week of january, a notoriously tough time for hospitals. they have been bracing themselves. it is unprecedented - bracing themselves. it is unprecedented to - bracing themselves. it is unprecedented to have l bracing themselves. it 3 unprecedented to have six days of strike. we have been preparing for this now for the last two weeks. 0ur teams feel ready and confident to cover gaps but we are really anxious and worried about how we will look after our patients during that period. after our patients during that eriod. , , ., ., , period. this is no doubt the toughest — period. this is no doubt the toughest strike _ period. this is no doubt the toughest strike the -

period. this is no doubt the toughest strike the nhs - period. this is no doubt the| toughest strike the nhs has period. this is no doubt the - toughest strike the nhs has faced, but over the past 12 months a series of walk—outs by staff has resulted in well over i of walk—outs by staff has resulted in well overi million cancelled appointments. and paul's hit replacement is one of those. the pen nets replacement is one of those. the pen gets steadily — replacement is one of those. the pen gets steadily worse _ replacement is one of those. the pen gets steadily worse and _ replacement is one of those. the pen gets steadily worse and you - replacement is one of those. the pen gets steadily worse and you can - replacement is one of those. the pen gets steadily worse and you can see l gets steadily worse and you can see li-ht gets steadily worse and you can see light at_ gets steadily worse and you can see light at the — gets steadily worse and you can see light at the end of the tunnel and you are _ light at the end of the tunnel and you are basically focused on that point _ you are basically focused on that point. although i wondered whether the strike _ point. although i wondered whether the strike would have some effect, i suppose _ the strike would have some effect, i suppose in— the strike would have some effect, i suppose in the heart of hearts it i thought— suppose in the heart of hearts it i thought it — suppose in the heart of hearts it i thought it would do, and when i heard, — thought it would do, and when i heard, it — thought it would do, and when i heard, it was devastating. so what could bring — heard, it was devastating. so what could bring the _ heard, it was devastating. so what could bring the strikes _ heard, it was devastating. so what could bring the strikes to - heard, it was devastating. so what could bring the strikes to an - heard, it was devastating. so what could bring the strikes to an end? | could bring the strikes to an end? during recent talks are government offered a 3% average pay rise from january on top of the 9% average received byjunior doctors last received by junior doctors last year. received byjunior doctors last year. but the british medical association wants steps towards a 35% rise to make up for the low inflation increases since 2008. then;r inflation increases since 2008. they -icked inflation increases since 2008. they icked this inflation increases since 2008. they picked this week, _ inflation increases since 2008. tue: picked this week, which inflation increases since 2008. tte: picked this week, which we inflation increases since 2008. "tt21: picked this week, which we all inflation increases since 2008. tt21 picked this week, which we all know is one of the busiest weeks in the

nhs's diary. we have coronavirus, flu, norovirus increasing, and it will be very concerning, the consequences it will have notjust for this week of industrial action, six days, but also the consequences in the weeks following.— in the weeks following. victoria atkinson says _ in the weeks following. victoria atkinson says the _ in the weeks following. victoria atkinson says the government | in the weeks following. victoria i atkinson says the government will not negotiate well the doctors are striking. we not negotiate well the doctors are strikinu. ~ ., not negotiate well the doctors are strikinu. ~ . ., , _ ., not negotiate well the doctors are strikin._ . ., ., , ,y ., ., ., striking. we are happy to negotiate an ime striking. we are happy to negotiate anytime and _ striking. we are happy to negotiate anytime and anywhere. _ striking. we are happy to negotiate anytime and anywhere. i _ striking. we are happy to negotiate anytime and anywhere. i am - striking. we are happy to negotiate anytime and anywhere. i am happy| striking. we are happy to negotiate i anytime and anywhere. i am happy to negotiate right to know. i will walk down to westminster, sit down with victoria atkins, if she wants to sit down with us. but she doesn't, she has pushed us out of the negotiation in. ,, 2, has pushed us out of the negotiation in. ,, ., _ , has pushed us out of the negotiation in. ,, ., , has pushed us out of the negotiation in. nhs england says this has been one of the most _ in. nhs england says this has been one of the most difficult _ in. nhs england says this has been one of the most difficult start - in. nhs england says this has been one of the most difficult start to i one of the most difficult start to the year, and with neither side backing down there are likely to be more challenges ahead for patients. so be hutchison, bbc news. at least 50 people have been killed and scores of others injured in two explosions in central iran near the grave of a top revolutionary guards commander. state television says the blasts

occurred in quick succession in the city of kerman, during a ceremony to mark the killing in 2020 of qassem soleimani by a us drone attack. lebanon has accused israel of trying to ignite conflict across the middle east, following the assassination of the deputy leader of hamas yesterday. israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the explosion which killed him. hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government. the french president, emmanuel macron, warned israel to avoid any escalation in lebanon, and the united nations peacekeeping mission in lebanon says it is deeply concerned about rising tensions. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knelljoins us from jerusalem. there have been fears for some time that the conflict could become more widespread across the region. how does yesterday's attack play in to that? it is really ratcheted up the tensions. key now is a response of the powerful lebanese armed group

hezbollah, which has already vowed that this attack will not go unpunished. we are expecting a speech by its leader in a few hours' time. since the start of the war in gaza we have had on an almost daily basis fighting between israel and hezbollah in southern lebanon. that is an area that has been restricted to the border between israel and lebanon, the fear is that could now change. in the occupied west bank this is also stirred up a lot of angen this is also stirred up a lot of anger, this assassination, and palestinians have been holding protests there today. another factor is what happens with egypt. it has been trying to mediate between israel and hamas and there are reports in the arab media now that those efforts have been suspended. 0f those efforts have been suspended. of course it has been trying to broker a new ceasefire deal in gaza that could see the return of the remaining israeli hostages who were still being held by hamas in gaza.

many thanks. some pupils at schools in england are having to change exam courses because of dangerous concrete — known as raac — partially closing classrooms and buildings. those doing applied subjects have been unable to use workshops, labs and other specialist spaces since september. their teachers say it's unfairfor those pupils, but the government says it cant make exceptions when it comes to exams. 0ur education correspondent hazel shearing reports. this is the raac. it's through the whole building. so actually it means that we can't use this entire section whilst that's there. students at shoeburyness high school in southend have had to change their whole gcse, from design and technology to sd design, because they can't get to the machinery they need. obviously we want them to do what their passion is, what their choice is, what they wanted to do. it's very, very difficult partway through a course to be told you suddenly don't have an option that you had before. we'd never want to do that.

but what we're looking at is the least worst option for them. one of them is in the it room, so it's not even in an actual woodwork room. these a—level students are still hoping for special consideration in their exams. we found out about the closure, i just thought of year 13. it had such like a shocking effect on us. i cried, because it was very, like, worrying. we're using stanley knives and rulers instead of the laser cutter, which obviously it makes it pretty difficult. this will affect us for the whole of our course, and it's notjust going to be like a little problem. it is a big problem. we're going to be doing an experiment... not a bunsen burner in sight in this science lesson, not even any test tubes. hadley high school in suffolk has had to close all of its science labs and fill the playground with two storey temporary classrooms. they're cold, they're echoey. i've got different staff in and out because we're trying to be fair so that not everybody teaches permanently in a cold classroom. what help do you want to see for students taking their exams this year? i would like the exam boards to understand that our children have

not had the specialist provision that every other child they're competing with in the exam season has had. what could extra help for exam students look like? ideas we've heard about include teachers assessing students' grades like they did when exams were cancelled because of the pandemic, grades being assessed on a case by case basis, or schools being given a blanket percentage increase on their results. tthejoint council for qualifications says exam boards have extended coursework deadlines and england's exams regulator 0fqual says schools should reach out for support. but the department for education said in a statement, "it is not possible to make changes to exams and assessments for only some groups of students to address the impact of variable disruption to teaching." st leonard's catholic school in durham says dealing with raac has been an extremely challenging experience forfamilies, students and staff, and it's in discussions to ensure its students are not disadvantaged. nicola cook wants special consideration for her son, who has his a—levels coming up

at the school. he said to me the other day that, "oh, mum, i'm kissing my a—stars goodbye. i'm not going to be able to get that now." it's frustrating. ijust, i have no answers. i can't, i can't solve the problem myself as one parent. none of us can. we need the government to come together and to really understand what the impact of this is. the government says most of the 231 schools confirmed to have raac in england are teaching pupils in person. but for some students, it's still far from normal. hazel shearing, bbc news. luke littler�*s sensational run in the darts pdc world championship has continued. �*luke the nuke' as he's known has become the youngest player ever to reach the final. the 16—year—old beat the former champion, rob cross, in the semifinal last night at alexandra palace in london. he'll play the world number one luke humphries in the final tonight. 0ur reporter katie barnfield has

been to his darts club in st helens. celebrations in st helens. where luke littler trained since he was a young boy. as he stormed through the semifinal last night, there was huge support from his friends. he's 16 and he's in a world championship final. it's just amazing. no one ever thought he was going to get this far. not many of us. but what he's doing isjust absolutely amazing. and he finishes it on double ten. this was the moment the 16—year—old beat rob cross 6—2 to become the youngest player ever to reach the final of the pdc world darts championship, the first time he's ever played in the tournament. becca chisnall grew up with luke, the two of them playing darts together since they were six. he's really good. i can't win a game against him, and i don't think many people can, to be fair. i think we're going to have like a thing in the window for him, because if he does win,

even if he doesn't win, we will celebrate for them. but if he wins it, we're going to have a party or something. karl holden coached him at the st helens darts academy and says he knew he had an incredible talent not long after he took up the sport. at nine, he was good. before he was 11, he was extremely good. he's a freak of nature, honestly. he really is. he's, i say he's the ronaldo of darts. he is one of the best players in the world at the age of 16. who doesn't want to be that? you know, everybody wants to be that. even these 40—year—olds in the pdc want to be like luke now. he has already made history, but nowjust one more match stands between him becoming the world champion. katie barnfield, bbc news, st helens. and our correspondent matt graveling is at alexandra palace ahead of tonight's match. huge excitement, and can he do it? tonight is the night, people here

will be hoping so. it is quiet now but in less than six hours 3300 fans will be in here. this place will be rocking and alexandra palace will see a new king crown. it is luke versus luke, 16—year—old luke littlerfrom versus luke, 16—year—old luke littler from warrington against the new world in one luke humphries, 28, from newbury. this isn't the first time this pair have met. look at this picture here from 2019 when the two faced up in a pub for the grand prize total of £250, which was the kitty that night. this evening they will be playing for a cool half a £9. most of the attention is on the teenager luke littler but let's have a look at his opponent, who came through his semifinal game against scott williams 6—0 last night. luke humphries hit an average of 108, one of the best return to everything. regardless of the result luke littler�*s run has put new eyes on the sport of darts, we talk a lot about the lack legacy of the lionesses, but this is the luke littler legacy.

lionesses, but this is the luke littler legacy-— our top story this afternoon. at the start of the longest strike in nhs history — junior doctors in england take action for six consecutive days. and a rare medieval cemetery found near cardiff yields up its secrets. coming near cardiff yields up its secrets. up, south africa i recorded coming up, south africa have recorded their lowest total since 1932 on day one of their second test with india in cape town, slumping to 55 all out. police say a man was killed in gloucestershire yesterday when a falling tree hit his car as a result of storm henk. there's one severe flood warning and more than 300 flood alerts and warnings across england and wales — and around 10,000 homes have been left without power. the flood warning here in tenby in wales is severe — meaning there's a threat to life. rail services are still disrupted

after the heavy rain and strong winds with passengers on greater anglia, south western railway, southern, and great western affected. phil mackie reports. at first light things did not look good. the river severn had risen higher than predicted and not far short of record levels. these housing association flats are prone to flooding and susan rescued her mum last night fearing the worst. almost 2020 levels i would say, up to the bottom of the window sill and just a little bit to go to go over the windowsill as it did in 2020 so just wait and see.— the windowsill as it did in 2020 so just wait and see. others were not so luc . just wait and see. others were not so lucky- pull— just wait and see. others were not so lucky. pull only _ just wait and see. others were not so lucky. pull onlyjust _ just wait and see. others were not so lucky. pull onlyjust moved - just wait and see. others were not| so lucky. pull onlyjust moved here and was told this was the safest place to leave his car. if it gets much higher it is probably right. t much higher it is probably right. i

just recently moved into a new block of flats and the alarm system went off on monday evening so i move the car as i was advised to move it and kept an eye on it yesterday. and as you can see this evening it got worse. ,, ., ~ you can see this evening it got worse. ,, ., " ., ., " you can see this evening it got worse. ,, ., ~ ., ., ~ ., ., worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose — worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car _ worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car was _ worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car was hit _ worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car was hit by - worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car was hit by a - worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car was hit by a tree i worse. storm henk took one life, a man whose car was hit by a tree in | man whose car was hit by a tree in gloucestershire. the aftermath of the storm is still being felt across much of england and wales with hundreds of flood warnings and one severe flood warning near tenby in pembrokeshire on the river there. an earlier severe warning in northamptonshire has been removed but the county are still suffering. in shropshire flood barriers are holding the river back in ironbridge but essential supplies are still getting in. it was to some people are taking advantage of the situation but many are dealing with a fourth flood since october. these houses are used to flooding but these floods are higher and last

longer so that people living there need to take more precautions to remain here and that is happening along the length of the river severn. ., ,., . ~ severn. the government backed insurance claim _ severn. the government backed insurance claim have _ severn. the government backed insurance claim have launched l severn. the government backed insurance claim have launched aj severn. the government backed - insurance claim have launched a new scheme called build back better so that will enable newly flooded people to claim an extra £10,000 on top of their insurance claim to put in things like flood barriers as we can see behind us orflood doors, self—closing air brakes or even a flood resilient kitchen. the self-closing air brakes or even a flood resilient kitchen. the river severn is likely _ flood resilient kitchen. the river severn is likely to _ flood resilient kitchen. the river severn is likely to continue - flood resilient kitchen. the river severn is likely to continue to i flood resilient kitchen. the river. severn is likely to continue to rise until next week but there is good news is after months of seemingly endless mine were in for dry spell. more good news if you look down there you can see a high water mark which means that the flood levels have just fallen slightly in the last half an hour. but if you look along the river you can see how swollen it is and there's a lot of flooding upstream into shropshire and wales and that will all come

down here in the next few days. just an update to theirs flats you saw earlier, still flooded on the ground floor and a little further back down here you can still see paul's, which probably is a writer. hopefully levels may have peaked but not to say that they may not go up again but at least it has stopped raining and is looking a bit brighter in the next week or so. phil mackie, bbc news. joining me now is simonjones. so what's the situation this lunchtime on the road? the storm has blown through but chaosis the storm has blown through but chaos is felt on the transport network especially on the railway services. pretty much every single railway operator in england and waleses warning people to check before setting off because of ongoing disruption. a huge number of trees have come down on the line and love flooding and power supply issues. even when trains are able to run often the trains and the crews

are in the wrong position. 0n the roads is looking difficult, national highway is warning drivers to allow extra time for the journey. we saw the dangers yesterday when a tree came down on a car in gloucestershire killing a man in his 50s and we now have a new weather warning coming into force from tomorrow lunchtime covering all of southern england for heavy rain so problems may continue.— southern england for heavy rain so problems may continue. simon, thank ou. the authorities injapan have warned of the risk of landslides and heavy rain, as rescue workers continue to search for survivors of the devastating new year's day earthquake. 64 people are now known to have died. the province of noto was worst hit by the tremor which measured 7.6 on the richter scale. jean mackenzie has travelled to close to the epicentre. we finally arrived in the town of wajima three days after the earthquake. and this is close to the epicentre, and it is by far the most destruction we've seen. a fire broke out here

during the earthquake, and it spread to the houses and the stalls. this used to be an old market place, and the people in the town have told us that the flames could be seen from all around. you can see that much of the area is still smoking. walking around the side streets, and so many of the old wooden homes have completely collapsed. but most people have now left this town. they took those very early warnings to flee for higher ground because of the tsunami that was forecast. and they haven't been able to return, either because their homes have been destroyed or they are structurally unsafe. but people are returning here to search for their relatives who they think might still be trapped under the rubble. because three days on, they still don't know. it has taken some of the search and rescue teams nearly as long as us to reach here. these search dogs only arrived here this morning. there has been a huge delay in searching for survivors,

and the teams are now going one by one to each of these collapsed wooden houses to search for them. but they don't know if anyone is inside here. their searches aren't based on any information, they've told us. and so this is an incredibly slow process and this is a critical time. jean mackenzie with that update there. meanwhile investigators injapan have recovered the black box from the small plane involved in yesterday's collision with a passengerjet at a tokyo airport. five people travelling on the coastguard aircraft died in the crash on the runway. 0ur correspondent suranjana tewari joins us from tokyo. are investigators are any closer to understanding why the planes collided? that is the focus of the investigation now. the police are also involved and local media are

reporting that they are looking at whether it was possible negligence that led to the injuries and those deaths as well. the authorities released a transcript, the communication between the planes and air traffic control. and japan airlines which operates the passenger plane that collided with the coastguard aircraft did say that the coastguard aircraft did say that the plane, the airbus had clearance to land but it is not clear and we get conflicting statements about whether the coastguard plane was cleared to take off. and that is what investigators will be looking at now. , what investigators will be looking atnow. , ., the leader of reform uk, richard tice, has ruled out any electoral deal with the conservatives. he said his party would not repeat its decision of 2019 when, as the brexit party, it decided not to field

candidates in tory—held seats. he said reform uk candidates would stand in every seat in england, scotland and wales. mortgage lenders have started the year by cutting rates, taking some of the pain out of the cost of a new dealfor homeowners. the uk's biggest lender, the halifax, has cut some interest rates by close to one percentage point, with brokers now expecting others to follow suit. our business correspondent kevin peachey is here, so what's the prospect for people with mortgages in the coming year? more than1.5 more than 1.5 million home owners will see their current fixed mortgage deal expire this year. and they will be looking for a new deal in all likelihood that will be more expensive. but because of this competition now between the lenders it will take some of the intensity out of that pain. as you mention the halifax the biggest mortgage lender in the uk announced quite chunky

this week and has followed. they just announced that they will make some cuts tomorrow. so these are quite significant changes at the start of the year. what does that mean for people, they will be looking and they will see if it will affect their particular circumstances and their deal but not in every case it has to be said. it is happening of course because the bank of england has held rates three times in a row now and expect the next move, economists expect the next move, economists expect the next move, economists expect the next move to be down and that is fed through to mortgage lenders but we are not going to see a return to the ultralow rates that many people got used to for more than a decade. kevin, thank you. a rare early medieval cemetery has been unearthed — not far from the end of the runway at cardiff airport — and it's left archaeologists scratching their heads. it's thought to date from the 6th or 7th century ad — and there are more than 70 graves at the site. but there are also some unexpected artefacts emerging from the graveyard.

rebecca morelle has more. uncovering a medieval mystery. just outside of cardiff, archaeologists have discovered a graveyard they think is 1,500 years old. the bodies buried so long ago are giving an insight into a period we know little about. what's being revealed is baffling the archaeologists. it's really rare to have a site like this. each one of these is a grave and the team have excavated 18 so far, but they think there could be more than 70 at this site. now they're all aligned in the same position, running from east to west. and in some of them, the skeletons are flat on their backs with their legs outstretched. but in others, like this one over here, the skeleton is in a really unusual crouching position. why this is isn't clear. were burial practices changing over time?

or was there something else marking these people out as different? the skeletons are some of the best preserved, we're actually very, very lucky with that. and this particular individual is one of our better preserved ones on the site as a whole. the skeletons are being carefully excavated and they're already providing clues about who these people were and what they did. we have some teeth that are very worn in kind of a funny way. that might indicate the use of teeth as tools. maybe for textile work, leatherwork, basketry. where they're pulling something through their front teeth. got something that looks like glass. what's being found alongside the skeletons is posing even more of a puzzle. it is glass! a shard of fine french glass has just been discovered. hopefully the rim from a cone beaker. so it would have looked like an ice cream cone and it probably was imported alongside wine in barrels from the bordeaux region of france. a really nice find.

it's just one of an array of artifacts from fragments of pottery, perhaps from north africa, to a tiny carved peg. this little object is manufactured from animal bone. could be a peg for fora gaming board. it suggests people were coming to the cemetery to meet up. the living and the dead existing together. it's notjust a place where people are being buried, but it's a place where communities are coming together. they are burying their dead. but they're also undertaking other forms of activity and social practice, including eating and drinking and feasting. the items unearthed in the cemetery suggest that the people were of a high status. the next step is to work out exactly who they were. archaeologists are onlyjust beginning to scratch the surface at this unusual cemetery. they hope their excavation will reveal much more about the medieval way of life that's remained an enigma for so long. rebecca morrelle, bbc news, cardiff.

2023 was a record year for female artists on the uk singles chart — with women spending more time at number one than ever before, according to figures just released from the industry body the bpi. but it was a very difficult year for new music. here's our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. # i can buy myself flowers... flowers by miley cyrus, the best selling single of 2023, and leading a record breaking yearfor women. female artists were number one for 31 weeks, the highest figure since the charts began in 1952. however, whatever spin is put on it, it was a very difficult yearfor new music. the best selling album of 2023 was an almost three year old greatest hits compilation by canadian superstar the weeknd,