CAIRO (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has banned Sudanese planes from landing at its airports, Sudan's state news agency quoted its Civil Aviation Authority as saying on Wednesday, in the latest sign of tension between the two countries.

The UAE also barred a Sudanese airliner from taking off from Abu Dhabi airport, the Sudanese authority said.

Sudan's authority voiced surprise at the reported decision and said it was following up with airlines to reprogramme reservations for passengers arriving in and departing from the Gulf country.

(Reuters) -Lebanon's cabinet has told the army to draw up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms in a challenge to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, which rejects calls to disarm.

WHY IS THERE A PUSH TO DISARM HEZBOLLAH NOW?

Israel pummelled Hezbollah last year in a war sparked by the conflict in Gaza, killing many of its top brass and 5,000 of its fighters before a November truce brokered by the United States.

Hezbollah said Wednesday that it would treat a Lebanese government decision to disarm the militant group "as if it did not exist", accusing the cabinet of committing a "grave sin".

Amid heavy US pressure and fears Israel could expand its strikes on Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that the government had tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by year end.

CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria signed 12 investment deals worth $14 billion on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, including infrastructure, transportation and real estate projects aimed at reviving the war-damaged economy.

The agreements included a $4 billion deal for building a new airport in Damascus signed with Qatar's UCC holding, and a $2 billion deal to establish a subway in the Syrian capital with the UAE's national investment corporation.

Other major developments include the $2 billion Damascus Towers project signed with Italy-based UBAKO.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Hezbollah said on Wednesday the Lebanese government was committing a "grave sin" by tasking the army with establishing a state monopoly on arms, sharpening a national divide over calls for the Shi'ite Muslim group to disarm.

The cabinet on Tuesday authorised the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to confine arms across the country to six official security forces by year's end - a major challenge to the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Egypt said on Wednesday that its much-anticipated new $1-billion archaeological museum near the Pyramids of Giza will officially open on November 1 after several delays.

Authorities hope that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which boasts the treasures of Tutankhamun among its collection of more than 100,000 ancient Egyptian artefacts, will attract visitors from around the world.

Official say that at 50 hectares (124 acres), the museum will be the largest in the world dedicated to a single civilisation.

By Alexander Cornwell and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced pushback from the head of the military over his proposal to seize remaining areas of Gaza it doesn't already control during a tense three-hour meeting, three Israeli officials said.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistan has started to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, in a move that could see more than 1 million Afghans expelled from the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that it had received reports of arrests and expulsions of legally registered Afghans across the country before Pakistan's September 1 deadline for them to leave.

The UNHCR said that sending the Afghans back in this way was a breach of Pakistan's international obligations.

Israel's military will have to execute any government decisions on Gaza, the defence minister said Wednesday after reported disagreements over the prospect of a full occupation of the Palestinian territory.

As the war nears its 23rd month, signs of a rift over Israel's strategy have emerged with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preparing to announce a new plan.

Netanyahu is expected to convene his security cabinet on Thursday to finalise a decision on the expansion of the offensive, Israeli media reported.

By Lucy Papachristou

TBILISI (Reuters) -Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday as the bitter rivals work towards a peace deal to resolve nearly four decades of conflict.

The two sides said in March they had agreed on the text of a draft peace agreement, but progress since then has been sporadic and slow.

Here is a look at the history of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the stumbling blocks that remain to inking a peace deal.