the headlines: a number of british conservative politicians have joined the race to replace the prime minister, theresa may, after she announced she will be stepping down. the former foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is seen as the frontrunner. the new leader is expected to be in post by the end ofjuly. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has made it clear that finishing the brexit process is the eu's primary concern. his spokeswoman said mrjuncker would establish working relations with any new british prime minister. the irish prime minister warned that negotiations could enter a dangerous new phase. an estimated one million young people are estimated to have joined the latest international protesst on climate change. school students joined coordinated marches in over a hundred countries from japan and the philippines to delhi, istanbul, and cities across europe. the strikes are thought to be the largest yet.

there's been no shortage of speculation over recent months about the next likely tenant of number ten, but mrs may's announcement today encouraged a much more open discussion about the party's options, and the qualities and credentials of those with leadership ambitions. our correspondent ben wright has been looking at the likely contenders. thejob of picking the next prime minister is in the hands of tory mps and conservative party members. a contest that has already been brewing for weeks will kick off officially on friday, june the seventh, the date theresa may will stand down as tory leader. nominations begin the following week. under the pa rty‘s rules, conservative mps will whittle down the field of candidates through a series of votes until a final two remain. and those two candidates will then battle it out to win a vote of the tory grassroots — around 120,000 conservative party members who are largely male, middle class and have an average age of 57. so, who might stand?

well, it's likely to be a very crowded field. around 17 tory mps are considering a crack at number 10, and five have said that they'll definitely run, including borisjohnson. the 54—year—old former foreign secretary is the likely frontrunner. the figurehead of the leave campaign is popular among the membership but less admired by a chunk of tory mps, who may try and thwart his path to number 10. another leave believer, dominic raab, is also likely to run, and the former brexit secretary is popular on the right of the party. there's the environment secretary, michael gove, who backed leave but has stayed loyal to mrs may. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, is going for it. he campaigned for remain in the referendum but has since stressed his commitment to brexit, as has the home secretary, sajid javid. the leave supporter and former work and pensions secretary esther mcvey says she is definitely running. and andrea leadsom, who stood against theresa may last time before pulling out, may also try again. there will be more, many more, who go for it.

a new prime minister will be in place by the time parliament breaks up for the summer recess in latejuly. but whoever goes through this door in a few weeks‘ time will face the same challenges that mrs may will soon leave behind — a deadlocked parliament, a brexit deal the eu says is closed, and a deeply divided country. fascinating times ahead. now on bbc news, the first of two special programmes on the efforts to rebuild the lives of communities devastated by war. betta ny hughes travels tojordan in paths to peace. years of brutal civil war have reaped syria apart, with horrific devastation to its historical and archaeological heritage. hopeless. no future. nobody is looking forward for the future. your biggest hope is

finding food for your kids, whatever. but now, refugees from the warcoming whatever. but now, refugees from the war coming together to learn an ancient craft, creating something beautiful and lasting out of the toughest of materials. they hope that one day they can return to their homeland to use the skills of stone masonry to help rebuild their broken lives. in its own tiny way it might help to create more peace. here in jordan or syria, here injordan or syria, maybe the first time in arabian countries, that a lady is working in a stone,

carving a stone. when you build something you start from a tiny little bit and this is the tiny little bit. like so many i watched the destruction of homes, lives in heritage and the warzones in the middle east with horror and sorrow. these lands i love. boasting unique ancient sites like this, umm el—jimal. just four miles from the syrian border and jordan. about 2000

yea rs syrian border and jordan. about 2000 years ago, out of basil stone, the centuries it has been a crossroad of cultures from all points of the globe. i enjoy the remarkable relics from the most amazing cultures. the greeks, the romans, the prison times, the ottomans, to name a few. these people were often at war. the stash byzantines. these people were often at war. the stash byza ntines. but these people were often at war. the stash byzantines. but they had a shed delight for the region. it was also the desire for the creation to uplift them, to stand the test of time. but i am notjust here to

investigate history because heritage sites like these are in danger across the region. i have come to jordan because i want to see how, in the desolation of war, the restoration of the past is bringing rare hope for the future. this is the border town of mafraq, a place haunted by the violence of the civil war. here, we are close enough to hear schelling at night. death is moments away. mafraq has been on the frontline the refugee crisis since the start of the war. wave after wave of refugees have poured over

here from the border. there are more refugees here than locals so the atmosphere can be a bit charged. these are the kinds of images we have grown used to. lines of refugees, desperate for help. but i have come to mafraq to visit a place which has defied those stereotypes. these are the outskirts of mafraq. 0ver there is a reception centre for refugees. i am 0ver there is a reception centre for refugees. iam heading 0ver there is a reception centre for refugees. i am heading to this modest little building, originally the home of the international medical corps but now it is a trading centre and there is something rather remarkable happening here.

for ten months, these 45 students, drawn here by word of mouth, have been taught heritage stone masonry from scratch. this has to be one of the most extraordinary fine craft courses. most of these students are dispossessed refugees, women, men, teenagers, who have lost their homes and fled syria with nothing. and now creating architectural triumphs.

learning the skills which could one day help rebuild their shattered land. and a third of the students are women, tackling a job which has been traditionally the preserve of men. in the future, the women of syria will play a role in rebuilding what others have destroyed. for over a year, the project has been overseen by a powerhouse duo. it is amazing. i am used to looking at these buildings from the ancient world so imagining the stonemasons from the past. what exactly is happening here? we have 45 students, male and female, 17 to a0. actually,

nobody has done this before. and the idea that with these are skills that when they go back to syria they will be able to work as stonemasons. they can work in our country because here we are teaching them all the islamic and cultural architectural features. this is such an important project because when we hear about syria or we hear about is destruction but here is something that is being creative. as part of their training, the students are taken to local heritage sites. they study the kind of architecture they could one day be asked to rebuild.

the troops ran home the shed cultural power of these places and the value of restoring them. —— trips. in the workshop, they are systematically taught the entire process , systematically taught the entire process, with a rough limestone blocks they create surfaces. and then carve a variety of architectural features, reproducing what they have seen. like this cylindrical plinth created by stu d e nts cylindrical plinth created by students which could be the base of a column ora students which could be the base of a column or a pedestalfor a statue. nour it is a trained engineer. while baraa it is the local project

manager. it is so impressive that you are to women. it is a brilliant and also that you have so many women training. all the women here are housewives. to rebuild the places and the old cities. that is aleppo. yes. baraa says the troops have triggered a passion for the remnants of the past. all the time the stu d e nts of the past. all the time the students ask, why they built this castle here. make they feel something in their heart because when you work in heritage places, we need to rebuild our conscience. they are also taught how to restore and renew. it also must give them hope. because this is terrible but if they

can do this, they can rebuild what was lost. i am told to of the most promising students both fled from syria at the beginning of the war and were forced to reconstruct their lives here from scratch.

in this impoverished area, local jordanians have been severely challenged by the crisis at their borders, and jordan's heritage sites also need repair, restoration and preservation. so locals have been welcomed to. reina and moor a mother and daughter. they grew up near mafraq and always work on the same stone together. with more refugees than locals in mafraq, there have inevitably been tensions between the communities. but here, jordanians and syrians have bonded and become close

friends. in the punishing heat of the afternoon, the students take a break, and kadijah invites reina, noor and me for a power lunch. you look so beautiful! what a lovely dress. kadijah and her young family fled from homs in syria with nothing at all except a few treasured photos of happier times at the home they have lost. that's the only thing you brought with you 7 so those photographs, those memories, will be very precious?

it seems to me, ladies, that in a way you are making history, because it was very unusual for there to be female stonemasons. do you think it has made you feel more powerful, doing this? it has actually made you stronger! show me your muscles, yeah! hearing all this, ladies, it must make you feel very proud of what you have been doing? we are proud of our women, syrian and jordanian. the work is not just women, syrian and jordanian. the work is notjust for the men. actually, that women can do everything. you can see that.

inshallah. thank you. these students are notjust taught a craft here. the course acts as a form of timeless art therapy. the first civilisations who built in stone were often brutal and violent, as well as brilliant. seeing this in action makes me wonder if, for centuries, stone masonry has offered its artisans a kind of oasis of calm in fulfilment and achievement. and a number of these students told

me that stone masonry has a therapeutic effect. but it gives order and structure to your day, that the sound of the chisels is hypnotic. their work becomes the sole centre of your attention. some become completely absorbed in the work, as if they are able to lose themselves for a time. scientists will tell us that we are at our happiest when we are using our hands to make things, that it takes us back to a kind of model state. but creating things that are beautiful 01’ creating things that are beautiful or useful or both is one of the things that, as a species, makes us us. things that, as a species, makes us us. mohammed is the youngest student here. his family fled from homs when

here. his family fled from homs when he was just 11, after their home was bombed. life is a refugee can be aimless and dispiriting. hamza is from damascus and came here in his early teens. he has become particularly skilled in calligraphy, spending hours carefully carving arabic script into the finished stone.

what does the second word say? allah? god is the merciful. yeah. you find when you are doing this kind of thing that you feel connect to the craftsman and stonemasons who would have done this 500 years ago? exactly, yeah. when you look at those things that they built, they are so, those things that they built, they are so, so... those things that they built, they are so, so... so beautiful, so amazing to look at. they did it with their hands. so that is just, you know, thinking about that is amazing... the process of creating something absolutely beautiful, something absolutely beautiful, something you can enjoy looking at, can be proud of. it is the beginning of the process of becoming something, something that happens to you in the past, you know, trying to do something new. no-one at the school is under any illusions about the scale of the task ahead. this is

a video showing to students, just one terrible example of or damage to syria's historic monuments. by the use of drones and 3d scanners, archaeologists have revealed the devastation to beit gazale, one of the largest 0ttoman era palaces in aleppo. the skills taught at the stone masonry courses injordan could help rebuild and restore every architectural feature of this palace, and others like it. perhaps, just perhaps, this offers a glimmer of hope. the lack of skilled stonemasons is a serious cultural threat. after the civil war in lebanon on, for instance, many of the historic buildings that were damaged were simply bulldozed away. and there is a very real possibility that that might well happen in syria too, which is why this scheme, it feels to me, is fighting because of

the past, and the future. reima and noor grew upjust the past, and the future. reima and noor grew up just a stones throw from this spot. i am back out the remote desert site of umaljamal, the city built by stonemasons 2000 yea rs the city built by stonemasons 2000 years ago using exactly the same techniques that they have been taught. i am so delighted that you have brought me here, but why did you bring me? why is this place special to you?

i have to ask this, because i have to daughters. what is it like working together as mother and daughter? in the end, it is notjust about art, but about love. in the end, it is notjust about art, butabout love. love in the end, it is notjust about art, but about love. love for archaeology, for the legacy of the past, and the power of culture to bring people together, helping to find direction for the future, and to heal the wounds of the past. for

all their weight and solidity, there is something else. something intangible about these remarkable blocks of stone. these are storehouses of generations were of inspiration and ambition. and for dislocated refugees, they are also a reminder of a culture that has been lost but could live again. and surely there is something else more fundamental to. surely these tell us that we should always create rather than destroy, and that how we choose to live in the world impacts not just be present but the lives of others, and the future.

hello there. well, as you've probably already heard, it's not going to be a heatwave this bank holiday weekend. it's turning cooler and there is some rain in the forecast, but it's not going to be a washout by any means. there is sunshine around. most of the rain is likely to be across more northern and western parts of the uk, but by sunday night it's a bank holiday monday and it will be turning cooler for all, with north—westerly winds setting in. this is the pressure chart for this morning. we've got this weak weather front gradually easing into the north—west corner of the country as the day wears on. that will produce thick outbreaks of rain in northern ireland and much

of scotland as the day wears on. further south, the best of the sunshine. staying dry for many places, skies turning hazy across the south—west as the cloud begins to build. temperatures reaching maybe 23 degrees in the south—east. a little bit cooler across scotland with all that rain and the breeze. more weather fronts moving in during tonight. it's going to be heavy rain in places and that rain also arriving across northern and western england as well, the south—east continuing to stay dry, with temperatures here around 11—13, actually quite a mild night for many because of the cloud, the breeze and the rain. low pressure firmly in control as we head into sunday. this cold front is the one that will bring the cooler air to the country as it continues to spread its way south and east. it will do so quite quickly, i think. bursts of rain eventually reaching east anglia under south—east during sunday afternoon. skies brightening up,

one or two showers, at least it's an improvement since the afternoon. 20—21 in the south—east early on, but as that cold front moves through, the cooler hour will arrive here as well. it does so during sunday night, opening the floodgates for north—westerly. quite a brisk north—westerly. this next feature will bring more wet weather to northern parts of the country, showers or even longer spells of rain here, but through bank holiday monday it looks like it will be a day of sunshine and showers for northern ireland, england and wales. some of those showers will be happy across western areas and quite blustery too. the further east you are, the better chance you have of staying dry and seeing sunshine. noticeably cooler for everybody. beyond bank holiday monday to tuesday, a northerly wind for a while, but will feel quite chilly, feeding and further showers at times. again, there will be some sunshine around but it is pretty unsettled for the upcoming week. it is going to feel quite cooler times, most of the showers across northern areas, with some sunshine and signs of things warming up a bit across southern areas the end of the week.

this is bbc news. i'm ben bland. our top stories: fights over brexit claim another british prime minister. theresa may announces her intention to resign. i do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country i love. the favourite to succeed her is former foreign secretary borisjohnson, who says he's prepared to leave the eu without a deal if neccessary. in other news, bomb in the french city of lyon injures eight people. and an estimated one million school children in over 100 countries skip classes to demand action to stop climate change.