An audio recording shows embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam admitting she has caused “unforgivable havoc” by igniting the political crisis engulfing the city and would quit if she had a choice, Reuters reports.

Lam told a group of businesspeople that she now has “very limited” room to resolve the crisis because the unrest has become a national security and sovereignty issue for China amid rising tensions with the United States.

“Boris Johnson has dramatically escalated the Conservative civil war on Brexit by threatening to purge some of the party’s biggest beasts — including former chancellor Philip Hammond — unless they back him in a key Brexit vote on Tuesday,” the Financial Times reports.

“The UK prime minister has warned Conservative rebels they will be stripped of the party whip and banned from standing as Tory candidates at the next election if they do not back his tough line on Brexit.”

“By throwing rebel MPs out of the parliamentary party Mr Johnson would be surrendering his slender House of Commons majority of one, increasing the likelihood of an early general election.”

Bloomberg: Here’s how Parliament is plotting to stop a no deal Brexit.

“Clad in gas masks along with their formal white school uniforms, tens of thousands of students in Hong Kong boycotted the first day of classes Monday as part of a citywide strike following a violent weekend of demonstrations,” the AP reports.

“High school students added gas masks, goggles and hard hats to their traditional uniforms, while university pupils crowded into a square at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Workers also participated in their own rally at a public park, braving strong winds and storm clouds as a typhoon threatened.”

Jonathan Swan: “Senior officials tell me they are increasingly concerned about Beijing’s treatment of activists in Hong Kong and, increasingly, fear overreach that could also target Taiwan. This comes as any chance of an armistice in the trade war seems to be shrinking away.”

“Based on numerous conversations with Trump administration officials over the last few weeks, it is clear that many of the president’s top advisers view China first and foremost as a national security threat rather than as an economic partner.”

“This is a new normal. And it’s poised to affect huge parts of American life, from the cost of many consumer goods — likely to go up under a punishing new round of tariffs — to the nature of this country’s relationship with the government of Taiwan.”