March 14 (Reuters) - Russia is supplying Iran with Shahed drones to use against the U.S. and Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told CNN in an interview excerpt aired on Saturday.

Zelenskiy told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that it is "100% facts" that Iran has used Russian-made Shaheds to attack U.S. bases.

Shahed drones have been linked to other attacks on countries in the region, although their manufacturers are not always clear.

When Israeli settlers attacked their West Bank village of Abu Falah, Milia Hamayel told her son not to try to fight them off, but the 30-year-old went to defend a friend's land anyway.

"I called him two or three more times and he didn't answer. After that -- may God have mercy on him -- that was it," she told AFP, her lips trembling as she looked at a framed picture of her son, Thaer.

Dubai is scrambling to preserve its image as a safe haven despite Iran's onslaught, with influencers rallying behind the government's message as authorities crack down on those sharing footage of strikes.

For decades, the Gulf was seen as an oasis of safety in a tumultuous Middle East, with the United Arab Emirates branding itself the safest country in the world and boasting of its very low crime rates.

But that image has now been shattered.

AI-created videos circulating on Elon Musk's X depict American soldiers captured by Iran, an Israeli city in ruins, and US embassies ablaze -- a surge of lifelike deepfakes despite a policy crackdown to curb wartime disinformation.

The Middle East war has unleashed an avalanche of AI-generated visuals, dwarfing anything seen in previous conflicts and often leaving social media users unable to distinguish fabrication from reality, researchers say.

By Maya Gebeily, Emily Rose and Jarrett Renshaw

DUBAI/JERUSALEM/PALM BEACH, March 15 (Reuters) - Iran threatened escalation across the Middle East to retaliate for American airstrikes on its energy hub and U.S. President Donald Trump urged friendly nations to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, with no sign on Sunday of an end to the war.

Formula One races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been cancelled as the Middle East war engulfs the region, motorsport's governing body the FIA announced on Saturday.

"It has been confirmed today that, after careful evaluations, due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East region, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April," the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement.

"While several alternatives were considered, it was ultimately decided that no substitutions will be made in April.

Three more members of the Iranian women's football team have left their asylum in Australia and decided to return home, Canberra said Sunday.

Seven members of Iran's visiting football delegation competing in the Women's Asian Cup had sought sanctuary in Australia after they were branded "traitors" at home for refusing to sing the national anthem.

Only three of them will now remain in Australia, after another member of the group had second thoughts earlier in the week.

SYDNEY, March 15 (Reuters) - Three members of the Iranian women's soccer team who had sought asylum in Australia have decided to return to Iran, the government said on Sunday.

Australia granted humanitarian visas to seven Iranian footballers last week after they sought asylum, saying they feared persecution if they returned home after they failed to sing the national anthem at a Women's Asian Cup match.

Four of the seven members have decided to leave Australia so far. Another member changed her mind last week.

March 14 (Reuters) - The head of the World Health Organization said on Saturday that it has verified 12 doctors, paramedics and nurses were killed in a strike on the Bourj Qalaouiyeh primary healthcare center in Lebanon late on Friday.

"The killings in the last 24 hours of 14 health workers in southern Lebanon mark a tragic development in the escalating Middle East crisis," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, noting that earlier in the day two paramedics had been killed in an attack on a health facility in Al Sowana.

FRANKFURT, March 14 (Reuters) - The Swiss government said on Saturday that it discussed requests by U.S. military and official aircraft to fly over the country, and based on its law of neutrality, rejected two but permitted three.

"The law on neutrality prohibits overflights by parties to the conflict that serve a military purpose related to the conflict. Permitted are humanitarian and medical transits, including the transport of wounded persons, as well as overflights that are unrelated to the conflict," the government said in a statement.