H eadlines
ISRAELBRIEFS Israeli Gymnast Wins Gold at European Championships
ISRAELI GYMNAST LINOY ASHRAM won a gold medal in
the individual rhythmic category at the European Championships
on Nov. 29, JTA reported.

She became the first athlete in decades not from a former
Soviet country or Bulgaria to win the medal.

Ashram edged out Alina Harnasko of Bulgaria in a tiebreaker.

Ashram, 21, is an Israeli Defense Forces veteran born to
Mizrahi and Sephardic parents. She will represent Israel at the
Tokyo Olympics next summer.

Israel also won the group rhythmic gymnastics gold at the
competition in Kyiv, Ukraine — although several top teams from
Russia, Bulgaria and Italy didn’t participate because of pandem-
ic-related logistical complications.

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Israel, New Zealand Compete in Virtual Chess
As part of a Chess4Solidarity event, Israel and New Zealand
played online chess matches, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The event was part of a Chess4All initiative. It was supported by
the Israeli Embassy in New Zealand and the Savyon Municipality.

Chess4All was founded 20 years ago by Lior Aizenberg to bring
people together across various divides via chess.

After Israel normalized ties with Sudan in October, hundreds
of Israel players completed against players from that country.

Aizenberg also has held events with Syria, Morocco, Algeria
and the Palestinian Authority. Games are hosted on Zoom, with
commentary through Twitch.

Other upcoming events include contests with players in Chile
and Spain.

The Economist: Tel Aviv Fifth Most Expensive City
Tel Aviv ranked as the fifth most expensive city in The Economist’s
annual ranking of the world’s priciest cities, up two spots from a
year ago, Globes reported.

Zurich, Paris and Hong Kong ranked as the three most expensive
cities, followed by Singapore, Tel Aviv and Osaka, Japan. Geneva,
New York, Copenhagen, Denmark and Los Angeles round out the
top 10. Singapore and Osaka shared the top spot a year ago.

The Economist said the pandemic impacted the rankings,
which are based on the cost of a basket of 138 basic products, by
weakening the U.S. dollar and strengthening Western European
and North Asia currencies.

7-Eleven Likely Headed to Israel
Two Israeli companies are working together to open about 250
branches of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Israel, The Jerusalem
Post reported.

Electra is working on a nonbinding memorandum of under-
standing with 7-Eleven to create a company that will run the stores
under the 7-Eleven name. It is teaming up with Electra Consumer
Products. Several prior attempts to bring the convenience stores to
Israel failed.

7-Eleven, which was founded in Texas in 1927, operates in
21 countries aside from the United States, including the United
Arab Emirates, Sweden, China, Australia and South Korea. There
are about 71,100 7-Eleven stores worldwide and the company said
it serves more than 65 million customers daily.

Products offered at 7-Elevens vary by country. The company
already operates a store with a large variety of kosher goods in
Monsey, New York. l 
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Magen David Adom is Israel’s official ambulance, blood-services,
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