\[a false reference]: must be escaped

\- a list item

\*

\~

\|

[a faux\]\(link)

\# at start

in the # middle is ok

\> at start

in the middle > is ok

\---

1\. must be escaped

but. this should not

. nor this

or this.

4 spaces at the beginning of line are removed

multiple spaces are colapsed to 1