emerald marco polo blues a club schoolteacher so course photo olympic gold circus hotel possibly a ski corinthian they're skipping this reticence to say yes or convinced him with good strategic political cosco bargain. now so it's a. summary of our main news stories this hour a major u.s. bank allegedly loses a billion dollar investment from libya's sovereign wealth fund goldman sachs is one of the banks blamed for the recent economic crisis putting the financial woes of the american and libyan people in the same. newmont in libya nato helicopters of hit their first targets attacking colonel gadhafi forces near the port city of brega russia's foreign minister slammed the coalition's actions saying it's a signal the ground operations in the country are looming. and huge which has been

raging for more than a day and destroyed in ammunition their own central russia has been put out there is an occasional explosion and the number injured in the incident is nearing ninety . hundreds of people down through the jefferson memorial in washington d.c. claiming there are holding their first amendment rights in action last week that two five arrests. on my colleague will be with the less than thirty minutes from now as the news continues but in the meantime our special report now focuses on how the ex soviet republic of armenia has developed two decades after the collapse of the u.s.s.r. . the. people living in this land seven thousand years ago were already making wine and shoes this world's oldest shoe was found right here in this hall in the fourth century armenia doctors christianity as its state religion i mean it's first christian. any early twentieth century armenians went through the

horrors of genocide we thought of only one point five million us we queued. on me approved free from the soviet union in september one thousand nine hundred ninety one was hans independence brought to this ancient country. in two thousand and eight archeologist police custody and could have rivaled armenian politicians in terms of popularity news of his discovery had spread far and wide for out the world in caves in the mountains around the village of and i need the archaeologists had found the settlements dating back to the year five thousand b.c. . it's obvious also billy's dresses were among the first finds a reason when we saw them it was immediately clear to us that they dated from the culture in stone age that means that people were already living in these caves

seven thousand years ago communities mentoring very close contact inhabited nereus which when the north caucasus and is which i mean the used to migrate from north to sell east and the self to north sea. excavation work at the site of the ancient settlement has been going on for three years now but archaeologists are still unable to say with certainty what kind of people lived in these caves seven thousand years ago what was more traditional just take a listen insistency a very interesting ritual you saw the bodies of babies under one year of age although garrity intact but women between the ages of eleven twenty five were simply chopped up of for burial. the most interesting artifact was found in the caves in two thousand and eight the world's oldest shoe was dug up from a depth of just half a meter is estimated to be about six thousand years old zeus worlds all sure it was

done right here in this hole it was a great deal of effort to get it through the discovery of the settlement is an event of crucial importance to the small transco cajun country armenians are proud of the long history of this land and the find reinforces their pride. in on the media there are a few other handicrafts they can unite generations as much as the making of patch cards or tombstones. the art has undergone little change throughout its thousand year history i am a chisel and stone are all that's needed for the job a man and his grandson a working on this much god. this good god is all i like the job. it is handed down from generation to generation. the one who taught me as my grandfather. over the course of his long

life the elderly man has made scores of hatch cards nowadays in mentors his grandson in the ways of hatch car sculpting. there are millions of hijackers here each with a different is they different just as people do all the carving patterns are different even on some particular tombstone there's a to show that the world is imperfect. each grave or monastery has its own tailormade tombstone normally it takes about a month to make one this symmetry in a village of nora those is one of the oldest in armenia the long history of this caucasian country a history packed with. drama can be traced by looking at the tombstones until the seventh century look quite simple that there is nothing going across atop the first

crust of. the hash code as in the symmetry don't feature carvings although the graveyard of the small town of spin is much larger. than before the quake it was a small cemetery but as you can see now it's quite big. which are often to some forty degrees to very quickly tombs are tossed such as seann comes to the symmetry quite often the always follows the same roots in a small in full place as he moves from one grave to another on the sim of the seventh one thousand nine hundred eighty eight the lost nearly all of his family. it was ten forty am when the first tremor with a magnitude of seven on the ridge the scale shook spit out thirty seconds later the

tiny town was no more just a pile of rubble. more than the one of the main street in ascent of the town was c. and. when it weighed struck there were people in every apartment out of five story houses of the few as is here and both sides of the road the only bit of good you practically all of them fell advances a few fish only roost lying on the walls floors could be seen after the quake of one. there is a church where our tours house once was more than twenty years on there are few reminders of that devastating earthquake. but in a cold month of december in one nine hundred eighty eight people around the world came to know the name of this small town in armenia aid began pouring in. from across the soviet union at that time armenia was part of it. the powerful earthquake affected all of armenia's northern areas as well as. the scale of the

disaster only became apparent after several days just a handful of people had survived on of the rubble the earthquake had claimed twenty five thousand lives. such as the huge the door when the smoke cleared away three or four hours after the earthquake became clear that the town had been razed to the ground where they'd begin arriving towards leaving because there were no rumors about. some of the aid came from numerous diasporas in foreign countries. this footage shows charles as an avoider a french singer of armenian origin after a visit to devastated spit tak events to do his best to help armenia. the damaged i was really shocked by what i saw and spit out. i couldn't even imagine their polling scale of that disaster. because so many people were killed

here look at. the french cinema set up a fund for the earthquake struck country the money was used to restore dozens of houses in state tacon gordie's armenia's second largest town it too had been affected by the disaster the town's residents unveiled a monument to as navarro as a token of gratitude to him here for a movie on build the monument on the twenty second of september in two thousand our series was not what people from all over our new came here who were also visitors from france. after the break up of the soviet union in one nine hundred ninety one reconstruction work in armenian town slowed down the new houses built in the three years after the disaster made up only one fifth of those destroyed by. the earthquake. followed you covered we came here on december second we were given a room on the ground floor and we still lived here most of the tenants here are

refugees. and his family also lost their home in december one thousand nine hundred eighty eight they became refugees the not as a result of the earthquake it was a bloody interethnic conflict that forced them to flee. armenia is a republic situated in the trans caucuses enjoin the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred twenty two when the republic won independence in september one thousand nine hundred ninety one this was the most troubled region in the post soviet space the country was at war with neighboring azerbaijan over nagorno-karabakh.

bleach up the world for the winter. this year and this is our home you know you these are my grandchildren doing their homework. the posters are stored and we made it theirselves because there's no other source of eating in here is out of your news i'm sure. his house in azerbaijan's capital of baquba was larger and more comfortable they had to leave their native city in a hurry already there was gunfire in the corner kind of block as in by johnny's were fleeing that area meanwhile the situation for armenians living in. azerbaijan was becoming increasingly dangerous. and we went for quite a good deal for instance my husband had an aunt with a dark complexion it was easy to see that she was

a median she was attacked several times under natural. the conflicts root cause stems from the one nine hundred twenty s. when azerbaijan and armenia joined the soviet union the golan a care about a territory where armenians had been a predominant population from time immemorial was placed under azerbaijan's control they didn't matter much who controlled nagorno-karabakh back then the soviet republics were part of an integrated country by the time bomb eventually went off and violence erupted between the two in the late one nine hundred eighty s. . the soviet government showed signs of weakness with the start of perestroika when people were told they could speak up without running the risk of being imprisoned doric security of people across the soviet union began talking about their concerns and i mean eons in a golden color buck started asking questions they wanted to know why they were part of azerbaijan even though armenia was next door to a country populated by people of the same nationality and culture when you put your

model. but who flatly rejected the advance demands the negaunee karabakh be handed over to armenians control. meanwhile the first major interethnic conflict was gathering pace in the soviet union south it had been fuelled by events in the small town of some guy the azerbaijan's capital good good will soon good massacre was the point of no return people were murdered at the right mind you people were killed not in a going to care about yourself but in some god town situated far from the going to care about the good of the there is no war now but there is no peace either there is no peace treaty to control the. no honor and i'm certainly not dodger go those times here is nearly dead deal i was

in the army then was memories are those days come to contrast and this is vocal opposition there is a map of the soviet union in go nine a pity ends workshop as a tailor you need something colorful to rest his eyes on the map also gives food for thought he recalls the days when everybody lived in the same country a country that later bursts of the scenes. this soap is their own hell week it was found again and then there again two thousand and one said where they said it all found the girl call it in there and get up and that is it is and it will at night and i am a. nobody at this distillery can say with any certainty when cognac from this barrel will be bottled but it has every chance of becoming a vintage brand adding to the distilleries rich collection. at

stella sent to a church of three hundred person branding me each here and now trying to call the ground. the british prime minister was not alone in appreciating this brandy in soviet times and me and cognac was the main symbol of the republic. many agreed that the strong beverage produced in a trans caucuses could easily compete with french cognac manufacturers. trained in sunni going to flavor is intense you consent to hold the ok of leaders via school pretty unique beverage systems for years here i can detect the flavor of our brands the sunshine of air and volumes and the beauty of our landscapes in. the production. process in armenia and france is totally identical the spirits of distilled in the same way and the oak barrels look very much alike the armenians are just proud of their product as the french are of their is gone out i think that

coney ark was one of the most important and most recognizable brands produced in our name it was but why would you and see that it's one of our new use symbols. mountain or ants can be seen from several spots over the entire history of the armenian people is links to it but it's off limits to armenians they can't reconcile themselves with the loss. of wild kings go mad their people suffer. how some to good advantage or power that was given to them. secrets of big dirty money. on r.g.p. . if.

if. if. the mountains height is five thousand one hundred thirty seven meters above sea level according to the bible mount our ads was the first landmark the no assault after escaping the great flood. or you know in the bible testified and it is connected with noir arc so after the didn't know where our stop to the peak of mind. however alamance is the main source of pain and suffering for armenians under nineteen twenty one agreements signed by soviet and turkish leaders the symbolic mountain was left on the other side of the border the mountain today in the territory of turkey but still it continues to be i mean seen by all who and

i mean people they are asked about their national identities they start with the mound and at the fact that ballarat is no longer in their territory also serves as the reminder of the greatest tragedy of the country's people the armenian genocide genocide is the word used in armenia to describe the policy pursued by the ottoman empire towards ethnic armenians from the late nineteenth century through to the nineteenth twenties been told over in nine to eighteen nineteen or twenty two within thirty years nearly thirty years nearly one point five million armenians killed brutally at the same time turkey was the first country to officially recognize armenians independence in one nine hundred ninety one today turkish society is divided over the events that led to the deaths of one and a half million armenians in the early twentieth century uncle or a few years to officially acknowledge the fact there what happened

a century ago was genocide is one of the hard there's an thorny problems between two nations the fundamental problem of fundamental problem here is that turkey in or. instead of facing its own history it's right. to try to deny the very part of take issue shameful page of its own history i mean and genocide rewriting history is one of the dangerous processes in every society uncle or supported as otherwise shan at the height of the ethnic conflict over nagorno-karabakh they closed its borders to armenians the border between armenia and azerbaijan is likewise locked up. given airport is the main gateway to armenia travelers have little choice considering year of iran's difficult relations with neighboring countries these east way of getting together van is by air with both of

. you have to go by here if you want to leave early and this is the only way because this country has been located throughout the post soviet period. has land borders with georgian around but there is little cross border traffic there therefore going by air is still of their stock. nearly every plane is filled to capacity it's clearly demonstrated by flights going to russia which is now armenia's biggest economic partner one of the largest armenian diasporas is found in moscow and else that made these deviation is the only means of transport for amenia it's obvious that there is no other way out. that's why our planes are always full of passengers.

armenia was the world's first country to turn christianity into a state religion that was way back in the early fourth century a.d. for more than fifteen centuries armenians have regarded space and church as a substitute for the state. i our commitment to saving human souls and preserving the nation are the two missions pursued by the armenian church today as it has been doing throughout its existence archon we're doing our best to remedy the harm done by the genocide of armenians and eighty years godlessness under the soviet regime. fortunately the soviet campaign to stamp out the church had little impact in armenia it didn't affect the schools of ancient monasteries many of them are over a thousand years old. it's now possible to reach the top of ministry

one of armenians oldest by cable way. is the world's longest reversible roadway a fifteen minute journey offers a magnificent view of a deep picturesque. number we're in the cabin of the total of cableway the world's longest it links the village of avid sword to the total monastery. of theirs it is five thousand seven hundred fifty meters long and its highest point above ground is three hundred twenty meters and. when the cableway was opened in october twenty ten the hope was that it would attract foreign tourists. its design is unique in many ways for instance a nearly six kilometer long cable way has only three supports european specialists help to build it. this is our main electric

generator that produces five hundred thirty three kilowatts here you can see be emergency diesel generators if the electricity fails we will turn these on and of back you with the passengers we have a great safety system in place. most of the cable car passengers are people living in nearby villages who gets. free transport influx of foreign tourists is small for the time being but the businessmen who have invested in the ambitious projects believe that in a couple of years armenia will become a popular tourist destination. hotels and campsites are already being built around the monastery and the cable way. we need water of different temperatures to treat gastrointestinal diseases destroyed is in particular if the patient is suffering from high city of destroys the temperature of the mineral water we give him is between fifty and fifty three degrees celsius in the low as it is the case is needs from thirty to thirty five degrees to. the town of jenin

maclise in the mountains during the soviet years people here already knew how to attract tourists a spa similar to the celebrated karlovy valley resorts has been in operation in general but decades that it must. come position of our ward are doing better than that of the water at carlevaro in the czech republic. our water contains more on our hands and minerals and than all the. local mineral water is yet another armenian brand it is true though that it's not as famous as cognac or ancient monasteries but residents of gentlemen hope that the water and spa resort will be another incentive for people to visit armenia. they germinal communal water springs from the ground in those gorge. between forty five and sixty degrees over what was sold thirty minutes result from our mineral water of the.

the time being only tourists from russia visit the gentleman explains. this huge bucket contains molten alimony and it will take several hours and a production process involving a dozen phases for the island medium to be turned into super fine for oil this plant is one of amin is leading industrial enterprises like many others it was inherited from the soviet era but like most other industrial plants he said on all during the first years of independence that was a very difficult period for this nation to plan survival began in two thousand when he became part of a row. action holding them up this is not the punch was reopened after modernization. despite the crisis it has grown stronger with each passing year good. decisions and armenians work here together the assets are russian he felt.

other stern stepan young represents what might be called the local element in a state his father used to work at this plant i told him my mother and father used to work here now it's time for my brother and me i'm not a unique case and everybody here has taken the job over from their old folks. the plant is one of the most successful in the country it should come as no surprise they have russian investment and the whole of the coaxes as their market. would for example the color of the more detail you see a little bit with good dice from herbs ago the mixture of many dyes meets the road loop darker it looks like terry if there were fewer dollars the root of matter produces a very beautiful red dye no chemicals around it nothing but natural components making rugs is a family business to the subtleties of this very old armenian handicraft handed

down from generation to generation. because the little square means and not just a weave roll after oh. every color is here it is. like the element implants this factory has a soviet past behind it then automatic looms are brought in to make rugs quickly and in large quantities none the less ancient technologies have become popular in armenia since independence. it takes a month for the weaver to complete one square in. severe a difficult job with taking a lot of air for this reason their prices are higher than those old machine we were absorbed. researcher a good home is seen as a sign of wealth. there are some ten million ethnic armenians around the world just over three million of them live in armenia the armenians at home believe that the worst of their country's history is a thing of the past year of and they like to say the nights are their darkest just

before dawn people across armenia believe that dawn has already broken over their country.