Links 18/09/13

Politics:

The EU condemned the sarin gas attack in Syria as a war crime in a statement by European Union's representative for foreign affairs.

"The UN has confirmed that the worst chemical weapons attack in 25 years took place in eastern Damascus last month, involving specially designed rockets that spread sarin nerve agent over rebel-held suburbs of the Syrian capital."

openDemocracy on sectarian identities in Syria and how they're affected by the civil war and the question of the "moral intervention".

Although circumstances could shift yet again, Mr. Putin appears to have achieved several objectives, largely at Washington’s expense. He has handed a diplomatic lifeline to his longtime ally in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad, who not long ago appeared at risk of losing power and who President Obama twice said must step down. He has stopped Mr. Obama from going around the United Nations Security Council, where Russia holds a veto, to assert American priorities unilaterally. 

NY Times: As Obama Pauses Action, Putin Takes Center Stage, September 11, 2013

Bookforum, with a selection of academic writing on how "the insane financial system lives" (and The Guardian is publishing a series of articles on the history of the financial crisis, five years on).

The Atlantic Cities on "How to design a city for women", a local attempt at urban planning in the ninth Viennese district Alsergrund.

Pop Culture: 

Violent Femmes' Add it Up is turning 30. (Ethan Hawkes' character in Reality Bites using the song to piss off Winona Ryder turns 20 next year).

Bookforum has an interview with writer Jonathan Lethem (his new novel, Dissident Gardens, is reviewed by the NY Times here).

New Skream and SBTRKT.

The Awl looks into the Riot Grrrl archives (from the actual archiving point of view).

Joking Bad, a couple of weeks before Breaking Bad comes to its inevitable Shakespearan tragic ending.