Reinfeldt in NY to represent Sweden
This week’s UN Climate Summit in New York drew more than 120 heads of state and government, including outgoing Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, to announce a vision and commitment for reaching a universal and meaningful climate agreement in 2015. Tuesday, Sept. 23 marked Reinfeldt’s first public appearance since Sweden’s election on Sept. 14. Together with Minister for the Environment Lena Ek, he wanted to provide support of Sweden's candidacy for the UN Security Council in 2017-2018. Sweden, which Ek says has the world’s “toughest climate,” is the initiator of a global collaborative project, New Climate Economy, which was presented at the summit. Reinfeldt said Sweden aims to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2020 with a goal to produce zero net emissions by 2050. The goals for reducing climate change require efforts that will positively impact economic growth, poverty reduction and social development.

Sweden welcomes its first female rabbi
Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, is remarkable today also for Sweden's Jewish Community’s announcement that Ute Steyer, 47, will serve as the country’s first female rabbi. Steyer, who grew up in London and has been in Israel and the U.S. for the last 12 years, will be installed in January 2015 at Stockholms Stora Synagoga. "We're rewriting history for Swedish Jews," Steyer said in a statement. "We've never had a woman in the rabbi post. It's a change we've longed for and it's a move that's consistent with Sweden's equal society," she added. In October 2013, Sweden elected Bishop Antje Jackelén as the country's first female archbishop.