on sunday, bringing more misery for travellers planning to fly over the festive period. according to flightaware data tracking website, nearly 6,000 flights have been cancelled today, christmas day and christmas eve. chinese and us airlines appear to be the hardest—hit. further disruption is expected on monday. companies have blamed staff shortages on the fast—spreading 0micron variant. well, despite many countries avoiding lockdowns over the holidays, cases of the virus are surging around the world. let's take a look at some countries reaching a record number of cases. in france, health officials have registered more than 100,000 daily infections. that's a new record for three consecutive days. italy has registered more than 50,000 daily cases, their highest number since the beginning of the pandemic. and in australia, testing clinics were forced to close with more than 9,000 cases reported on christmas day. the surge has disrupted holiday plans for many families, some even having to spend christmas isolating. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports.