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Brexit negotiations center on citizenship rights; a US graduate student is sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in Iran; Venezuelans rebuke their president.

Brexit breakdown

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Iran imprisons American student

Venezuelans push back on Maduro

Miscellaneous

“Forest bathing” is the new trend in outdoor recreation. But the name is a bit misleading — there’s no actual bathing involved. [NPR / Allison Aubrey]

A VA hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire, had a recurring fly infestation in one of its operating rooms and surgical tools that were not sterilized. And yet the hospital recently received a four-star rating, which patients and doctors say does not reflect the actual standards of care. [Boston Globe / Jonathan Saltzman and Andrea Estes]

The US has infrastructure problems that extend all the way to American research laboratories in Antarctica, where buildings and equipment are in a state of serious disrepair. [NYT / Justin Gillis and Jonathan Corum]

State regulators in Texas dole out small fines to huge energy companies when big things go wrong, like machines exploding and thousands of tons of chemicals spewing into the air. [Texas Tribune / Kiah Collier and Ryan Murphy]

As intensity gathers around the Russia investigation, former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn has been avoiding the spotlight — and hitting the surf — in his hometown in Rhode Island. ['Michelle Smith and Jennifer McDermott]

Verbatim

“Irene walked Lincoln Road every day for decades, and her homemade Dr. Seuss-vibrant dresses made her synonymous with South Beach. In the 1990s globetrotting gay men flocked to Irene like she was the hottest tourist attraction below the Mason-Dixon Line.” [Broadly / Mitchell Sunderland]

“You don’t have the right to go into your lab and build something that is ineluctably designed to affect entire ecosystems. If it escapes into the wild, it would be expected to spread and affect people’s lives in unknown ways. Doing that in secret denies people a voice.” [Kevin Esvelt to The Atlantic / Ed Yong]

“Rather, the accusations — 90 percent of them — fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’ ‘we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right.’” [US Department of Education official Candice Jackson to NYT / Erica Green and Sheryl Gay Stolberg]

“Those emoji include soon-to-be classics like the ‘Exploding Head,’ ‘Crazy Face,’ ‘Face With Monocle,’ and ‘Sandwich’ emoji, along with an oddly long list of fantasy-themed emoji. (Was anyone really asking for Mage, Fairy, Vampire, Merperson, Elf, Genie, and Zombie emoji?)” [The Verge / Chaim Gartenberg]

“It was as if she was brainwashed. [She] looked like a prisoner — it was horrible. I hugged her and hugged her. But she just kept saying she’s in love and [R. Kelly] is the one who cares for her. I hope that if I get her back, I can get her treatment for victims of cults. They can reprogram her. But I wish I could have stopped it from happening.” [J to BuzzFeed / Jim DeRogatis]

Watch this: The Middle East’s cold war, explained

How two feuding countries are tearing apart the Middle East. [YouTube / Sam Ellis]

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