World News for Students of English

24-03-2022 15:00

A Czech designer created a novel way to raise money for Ukrainians who suffer from the war in their country.

Tomas Brinek said his idea was originally a joke to make a pillow of the Ukrainian president. He realized many people saw the man as some kind of a sex symbol. Then, it attracted more than 2,000 orders.

The image is of President Zelenskiy, tired, unshaven but defiant in his trademark green T-shirt. The image has become the symbol of Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion. The limited edition of hand-made pillows has already raised almost 19,000 dollars to a charity which helps Ukrainians affected by the war.

The Czech Republic has sent tens of millions of dollars worth of aid to Ukraine, and so far it’s taken 270,000 refugees from the total of more than 3 million, mostly women and children, who fled the war.

Difficult words: novel (new or unusual), defiant (resistant and willing to fight), trademark (a thing that’s typical or characteristic for someone or something).

You can watch the video news lower on this page.