The westerners are said to be trapped in quarantine, sharing videos and pictures with the outside world as they wait in limbo.

To keep their spirits up the group were filmed singing and drinking around a table in a hotel.

Authorities in western Mongolia, which is close to the Russian frontier have instituted a quarantine to prevent the bubonic plague from spreading.

The tourists - seen wearing face masks when outside - are barred from leaving Uglii, population 28,000, and remain at a local hotel.

Reports in Russia say American, Dutch, German, Swedish, Swiss, and South Korean tourists are marooned in the city.

Footage emerged of an international group happily singing a Swedish song to keep up their spirits with a feast during the plague - but it is known they have pleaded with the Mongolian authorities to tell them when they can depart.

Separately, dramatic pictures from capital Ulaanbaatar have shown at least one aircraft being met by anti-contamination emergency workers in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease.

The tragic Mongolian couple who died from the plague got infected after eating the raw kidneys of a marmot, it is understood.

The city is closed due to some plague-contaminated marmots.

The man named Citizen T, aged 38, died on 27 April after hunting and eating a marmot, then his pregnant wife, 37, died three days later.

Russian tourists told of the lockdown preventing the international travellers from leaving.

“The city is closed due to some plague-contaminated marmots,” wrote traveler Elena Kovena from Kemerovo in Siberia.

“This is just so surreal.”

She said: “Did you think that the plague was something from the Dark Ages?

“Us too.

“We were just about to leave Ulgii to go deeper into Mongolia, but all exits of the city were shut and we were not allowed to leave.”

“We were told to wait for updates on Monday, 6 May,” said one named as Timur Konev.

From a local hotel, he said: “Six nationalities got together earlier today to plan the escape route.

“We spoke to local administration, to local police, but they didn’t allow us out.”

Neighbouring regions of Russia were said to be on “high alert”.

In Uglii a total of 158 people who came directly or indirectly into contact with the couple are ‘under supervision’.

The plague is a bacterial disease that is spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots.

The disease can kill an adult in less than 24 hours if not treated in time, according to the World Health Organisation.

The plague is believed to be the cause of the Black Death that spread through Asia, Europe and Africa in the 14th century, killing an estimated 50 million people.

“In the wake of Western sanctions against Russia, China has increased investment in Russia's economy,” the Pentagon report states.

The document also mentions China's massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), formerly known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), saying that the country may use the megaproject to create “military advantages.” It also claims that the initiative is intended to shape other countries' interests to “align with China's” as well as silence confrontation or criticism against it.

The Russian-Chinese cooperation has been rapidly growing in recent years. Last year trade turnover between the two countries hit a record $108 billion, demonstrating a growth of around 25 percent, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in April. He also stressed that Sino-Russian cooperation has reached a “historically high level,” and could serve an example for others.

Meanwhile in Khustain National Park, 100km southwest of the capital, it’s all about wildlife spotting opportunities: from Mongolia’s endangered wild horse, the takhi, to predators like wolves, Pallas’s cats and lynx.

Speaking at conference in Sydney this week, group executive of growth and innovation Stephen McIntosh said the company’s main goal for now is to determine whether Winu was a “Rio Tinto scale” project.

The copper-gold-silver discovery, a potential major boost for the company's growth options, is about 130 km. from Newcrest's Telfer copper-gold mine in the East Pilbara. It’s also close to numerous copper prospects discovered recently by juniors and 350 km southeast of Port Hedland, the world's largest bulk export port.

Winu copper-gold-silver discovery, a potential major boost for the company's growth options, is about 130 km. from Newcrest's Telfer copper-gold mine in the East Pilbara
Rio has so far drilled 24 holes at the site and will continue extensive drilling in months to come as part of its $250 million exploration program. If the company finds that Winu is not a “Tier 1” asset, it would move on to other exploration projects.

Analysts have questioned Rio’s ability to scale up its copper business quickly without making an expensive acquisition. The company recently had to delay first production from the $5.3 billion underground expansion of its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine in Mongolia. Originally scheduled for early 2020, it's now expected to happen in the third quarter of 2021.

In December, Rio sold its entire interest in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world’s second-biggest copper mine, as part of a deal that put an end to years of disagreements between operator Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and the country’s government.

Rio Tinto believes the copper market will go into deficit by 2020 amid expectations that bigger power grids around the world and an electric-vehicle boom will boost demand, while supplies will remain constrained.

Last month, the world’s second largest miner decided to invest a further $302 million to advance its Resolution copper project, in the U.S. state of Arizona, as part of its bid for increasing its exposure to the red metal.

However, industry analysts at CRU say the coming online of major projects — Anglo’s Quellaveco (2022), Teck’s Quebrada Blanca expansion (2021) and First Quantum’s Cobre Panama (already in production) will momentarily eliminate the gap between supply and demand.

The research group has cut its forecast deficit and now expects the market will be in a small surplus this year and next, but short again by 250,000 tonnes by 2023.

The Bogd Khan financed the revolutionary activities under the secret name of Butkov. The letters from the seven men who led the Mongolian Revolution to the Bogd Khaan asking for finance, have being kept in the General Archival Authority.

On Wednesday 1 May, the General Archival Authority presented 60 vitally important scripts and documents to and from the Bogd Khan. The exhibition, which is at the National Museum of Mongolia will last for a month.

This year, Mongolia is marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Bogd Khan.

A Boston jury found Kapoor and four colleagues conspired to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive painkillers, often to patients who didn't need them.

The former billionaire was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy for his role in a scheme which also misled insurers.

Tens of thousands of deaths have been caused by opioid overdoses in the US.

Indian-born Kapoor founded drugmaker Insys Therapeutics in 1990 and built it into a multi-billion dollar company.

The jury found Kapoor had also misled medical insurance companies about patients' need for the painkillers in order to boost sales of the firm's fentanyl spray, Subsys.

Fentanyl is estimated up to one 100 times stronger than morphine and is usually only prescribed for severe pain arising in cases like treatment for cancer.

The court heard that Kapoor - who was arrested in 2017 on the same day President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a "national emergency" - ran a scheme that paid bribes to doctors to speak at fake marketing events to promote Subsys.

During the 10-week trial, jurors were also shown a rap video made by Insys for its employees on ways to boost sales of Subsys.

Kapoor and his co-defendants - Michael Gurry, Richard Simon, Sunrise Lee and Joseph Rowan - face up to 20 years in prison.

A statement from Kapoor's lawyer said he was "disappointed" with the verdict. The men had denied the charges and have indicated that they plan to appeal.

Forbes listed Kapoor's net worth as $1.8bn (£1.4bn) in 2018, before dropping off the publication's billionaire rankings this year.

His conviction marks a victory for US government efforts to target companies seen to have accelerated the opioid crisis.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has said that opioids - a class of drug which includes everything from heroin to legal painkillers - were involved in almost 48,000 deaths in 2017.

The epidemic started with legally prescribed painkillers, including Percocet and OxyContin. It intensified as these were diverted to the black market.

There has also been a sharp rise in the use of illegal opioids including heroin, while many street drugs are laced with powerful opioids such as Fentanyl, increasing the risk of an overdose.

The current account deficit has risen to USD 297.6 million since the beginning of the year, decreased from the previous year. The surplus of the trading account, which shows export and import reached USD 407 million. However, the service account that registered the flow of traffic, tourism, and other high-paid services accounted for a deficit of USD 553.2 million. This is an increase in the deficit over the previous year. The Bank of Mongolia (BoM) said that the balance of payments will have a surplus of USD 500-600 million this year.

high-paid services accounted for a deficit of USD 553.2 million
When the balance of payment results in a surplus, a certain amount of funding will be reflected in the foreign trade profit and financial account, according to the BoM. For instance, within the framework of the Extended Fund Facility program, about USD 800 million will be allocated to Mongolia. In addition, the Ministry of Finance estimated a direct investment of USD 1.3 billion into the underground development of Oyu Tolgoi LLC.

Luttig, 64, who has served as general counsel since joining Boeing in 2006, will "manage all legal matters associated with the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accidents," the Chicago-based aircraft company announced in a statement.

Luttig had served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 15 years before joining Boeing. He also held senior roles at the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House and in private practice.

He will give advice to Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg and the Boeing board of directors. Meanwhile, Brett Gerry succeeds Luttig as Boeing's general counsel.

A number of lawsuits have already been filed against Boeing in the federal district court in Chicago by family members of victims who lost their lives in two deadly crashes.

On-going investigations into the two accidents are reportedly pointing to faulty sensor readings and a flight-control system which pushed the doomed planes nose down.

Muilenburg told a shareholders meeting on Monday that Boeing is close to completing an update to the flight control software of 737 MAX aircraft.