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MD Local Global Announces Strategic Cultural Partnership with H5 for Fernie Castle Animation Art Gallery

LONDON, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — MD Local Global Limited (“MDLG”), the UK-based wholly owned subsidiary of MDJM LTD (NASDAQ: UOKA) (the “Company”), today announced that on February 20, 2026, MDLG entered into a Deal Memo with H5 S.A.R.L. (“H5”), a Paris-based creative studio, establishing a long-term partnership for the artistic conception and curatorial development of the Company’s planned Fernie Castle Animation Art Gallery (the “Gallery”) in Scotland.

Previously, on November 20, 2025, the parties entered into a Development and Co-Production Deal Memo for an Animated Short Film. Together, the short film collaboration and the Gallery curatorial partnership reflect a broader strategic relationship between MDLG and H5, combining animation production with the long-term artistic development of the Gallery.

Under the new deal memo, H5 has been appointed as curator of the Gallery and will collaborate with MDLG on the overall curatorial vision, narrative structure, and artistic positioning of the Gallery. This includes the development of its conceptual framework, the design and curation of the permanent collection, and the creation of the inaugural exhibition.

The Gallery is conceived as a distinctive European platform dedicated to animation as an art form. The Gallery is expected to integrate heritage architecture with contemporary animation culture through exhibitions, screenings, educational initiatives, artist residencies, and interdisciplinary cultural programming.

The collaboration further contemplates broader cooperation in visual identity development and curation of future temporary exhibitions, subject to separate agreements between MDLG and H5.

MDLG will finance and oversee the physical production and implementation of the Gallery and its exhibitions, engaging third-party production teams in mutual consultation with H5. H5 will provide artistic leadership and curatorial direction within the scope of its appointed missions.

This strategic partnership establishes the foundation for the commercial extension of a uniquely positioned European animation art initiative and represents a significant step toward the broader economic objectives of the cultural development project.

About MD Local Global Ltd.

MD Local Global Ltd. is a UK-based cultural innovation company specializing in cultural IP development, animation production, international licensing, and cultural venue operations. The company aims to integrate Eastern philosophy with international artistic practices, creating a global cultural ecosystem built on storytelling and immersive experience.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Act. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and its other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor Contact

Sherry Zheng
WAVECREST GROUP INC.
Phone: +1 718-213-7386
Email: sherry@wavecrestipo.com

HeyGears Announces One-Piece Denture Solution – Redefining Digital Dentures with Dual-Material 3D Printing

HeyGears’ One-Piece Denture Solution enables dual-material denture DLP 3D printing, seamlessly fusing denture base and teeth materials in a single printing process to deliver more natural aesthetics and a comfortable fit.

CHICAGO, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HeyGears announces breakthrough One-Piece Denture Solution at LMT LAB DAY Chicago.

HeyGears’ One-Piece Denture Solution breaks through the technological constraints and experiential barriers of traditional denture manufacturing by deeply integrating HeyGears’ new UltraCraft MMF (Multi-Material Fusion) DLP 3D printing technology with high-end quality standards. It enables fully customized dentures that deliver exceptional fit, comfort, and natural aesthetics for every patient. More than just a technical advancement, it establishes an entirely new product category, a distinct brand concept, and an innovative business model, reshaping how dentists and patients think about digital dentures.

Balanced Occlusion and Seating Accuracy

Built on HeyGears’ self-developed dual-material DLP 3D printing technology, the One-Piece Denture Solution eliminates adhesive bonding between the denture base and teeth through molecular-level fusion, significantly improving retention strength and structural reliability compared with split-print and bonded workflows. The high-precision process delivers superior surface quality and occlusal accuracy. In HeyGears testing across 15 cases, 100% were within 0.8 mm elevation and over 50% were within 0.5 mm, and elevation within 0.8 mm typically requires no adjustment. This helps avoid the extensive occlusal adjustment often seen in split-bonding cases (about 2–3 mm elevation), which can take 20–30 minutes. With digitally perfected occlusion, dentures can be seated accurately and comfortably with no adjustment needed.

True-to-Nature Aesthetics

One-Piece Denture preserves morphological integrity of tooth, maintaining fine anatomical detail and natural contours. This structural fidelity supports dentures with more lifelike appearance and consistent aesthetic quality across cases. As a result, high-quality visual outcomes can be achieved with minimal manual refinement.

Hygiene-First Design for Long-Term Oral Health

One-Piece Denture Solution produces dentures with a seamless surface structure that helps reduce plaque retention compared with bonded, multi-part designs. With fewer interface gaps and smoother transitions, dentures support better daily hygiene and lower the risk of oral inflammation. The result is easier maintenance and improved long-term oral health outcomes.

HeyGears’ One-Piece Denture Solution represents a new generation of digital denture, moving beyond assembly-based workflows toward fully integrated one-piece production and setting a higher standard for precision, aesthetics, and oral health performance in digital dentures, with added benefits in cost efficiency and new revenue opportunities.

For business inquiries and to learn more, visit www.heygears.com or contact sales@heygears.com.

BRUCE Piling Equipment Unveils Core Deep Foundation Lineup from Vibro to Pile Hammers

Delivering Optimized Piling Solutions Through Customized Configurations for Diverse Soil and Pile Conditions

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — BRUCE Piling Equipment (hereinafter referred to as “BRUCE”) has announced the reinforcement of its project-specific operational framework, centered on its core deep foundation equipment lineup, including Hydraulic Vibro Hammers and Hydraulic Pile Hammers.

With over 30 years of industry experience, BRUCE is further strengthening its equipment selection guidelines tailored to specific site conditions. The company emphasized that in piling operations, equipment selection directly influences not only construction quality but also overall process efficiency and project stability. Moving beyond conventional equipment supply, BRUCE is systematically organizing and presenting optimized operational standards based on soil conditions and pile types for the global market.

[Core Technology] Ensuring Long-term Operational Stability via Balanced Design A key feature of BRUCE’s Hydraulic Vibratory Hammer is the “Balanced Double Side Eccentric Weights” structure. This design symmetrically distributes the dynamic loads generated by rotational eccentricity to both the left and right sides. By doing so, it effectively reduces the unbalanced loads typically concentrated on gears and bearings. This allows for stable vibration transmission even in extreme continuous operation environments, ensuring both equipment durability and work consistency.

Maximizing Process Efficiency with Site-Specific Lineups

In deep foundation projects, required equipment specifications vary significantly depending on soil characteristics and pile configurations. Reflecting these site-specific variables, BRUCE has developed a highly adaptable product lineup and continues to expand performance capabilities through ongoing research and development. The integration of premium-grade bearings and components further supports operational reliability and long-term durability.

Hydraulic Vibro Hammer: Designed for temporary structures and specialized piling applications—including sheet piles, casings, and H-beams—this system offers high operational stability where continuous reliability is critical. By maintaining component consistency across clamps, power packs, and related systems, and by providing site-specific operational guidelines, BRUCE minimizes downtime and enhances workflow stability.

Hydraulic Pile Hammer: Engineered for soil conditions requiring precise penetration control and efficient energy transfer, the Hydraulic Pile Hammer plays a critical role in maintaining structural integrity and construction precision. By analyzing pile specifications, project objectives, and operational cycles at the equipment selection stage, BRUCE helps reduce quality deviations in repetitive tasks while optimizing construction outcomes.

“In deep foundation projects, equipment reliability directly determines project performance,” said a representative from BRUCE. “Built upon three decades of engineering expertise and core design capabilities, we will continue to deliver differentiated foundation solutions tailored to the evolving demands of global infrastructure markets.”

www.powerquip.co.kr


 

Carrefour and Vusion join forces to deploy the smart store at scale

PARIS, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Carrefour, a leading global food retailer, and Vusion, the global leader in digitalization solutions for physical commerce, today announce the signing of a strategic partnership.

Carrefour and Vusion join forces to deploy the smart store at scale
Carrefour and Vusion join forces to deploy the smart store at scale

 

As part of its “Carrefour 2030” plan, Carrefour has chosen the Vusion platform to digitalize all of its hypermarkets and supermarkets in France by 2030.

This major industrial partnership covers the deployment of latest-generation electronic shelf labels, smart rails, and AI-driven cameras to transform operational efficiency and the in-store customer experience.

Following a massive initial deployment in the United States with Walmart, Vusion and Carrefour are sealing a major technological alliance for Europe. In this context, Carrefour is joining the International Advisory Board of the technology platform.

Alexandre Bompard, Chairman and CEO of Carrefour, declared: “Carrefour 2030 is a growth plan that relies notably on accelerating tech and AI. By partnering with Vusion, a French technological champion with global reach, we are propelling our stores into a new era. The digitalization of our shelves is the essential foundation for deploying our vision of modern retail, serving competitiveness, quality of life at work for our employees, and customer satisfaction.”

Thierry Gadou, Chairman and CEO of Vusion, commented: “With Carrefour, we share the same vision of a modern store at the heart of tomorrow’s omnichannel commerce. We are going to make this vision a reality in the coming years. Following Walmart’s decision to deploy EdgeSense across all its stores in the US, Carrefour is the first major European retailer to deploy the latest-generation Vusion platform at scale. The objective is threefold: to improve the banner’s performance and the satisfaction of both customers and employees.”

By equipping its shelves with millions of smart labels connected to the cloud, Carrefour is taking a decisive step in the digitization of its physical assets. This massive deployment positions Carrefour as the most advanced retailer in Europe in terms of store technology, echoing the transformation initiated in food retail with Vusion across the Atlantic. It follows successful pilots launched since June 2025.

The solutions deployed will combine:

  • The Vusion IoT infrastructure: For real-time price updates and light-guided assistance for employees (“pick-to-light”)
  • EdgeSense™ technology: Bluetooth-connected rails allowing automatic product geolocation to optimize e-commerce order preparation and shelf restocking
  • Captana Artificial Intelligence: Micro-cameras continuously analyzing shelves to automatically detect out-of-stocks, price discrepancies, and planogram errors

For Carrefour, this alliance directly serves the financial and operational objectives of the 2030 plan:

  • Productivity: Automation of low value-added tasks to redeploy teams towards customer service, equipping them with smart data and AI-driven tools to guide priority actions and improve compliance
  • Customer Experience: Time savings, personalized services, and real-time interaction for a smoother shopping journey
  • Sales: Reduction of out-of-stocks to maximize product availability
  • E-commerce: Performance improvement thanks to geolocation
  • Retail Media: Creation of a new digital communication channel directly on the shelf and monetization of data

For Vusion, this contract validates the relevance of its technology platform with the world’s largest retailers and accelerates its penetration of the European market.

Co-innovation for the commerce of tomorrow

Beyond deployment, the two groups are committing to close collaboration on innovation. Carrefour joins Vusion’s “International Advisory Board,” thereby participating in defining future technological standards for the sector. A joint laboratory (“Next Retail Experience Center”) will be set up to invent the commerce of tomorrow, particularly around the use of AI to improve operational performance and personalized customer experience, agentic commerce, and the activation of consumer data in-store.

 

About Carrefour

With a multi-format network of over 15,500 stores in more than 40 countries, the Carrefour Group is one of the world’s leading food retailers. In 2025, Carrefour generated €91.5 billion in revenue. Its network of integrated stores employs over 300,000 people, who contribute to making Carrefour the global leader in the food transition for all, providing high-quality, accessible, and affordable food every day. In total, more than 500,000 people work under the Carrefour banner worldwide. For more information, visit www.carrefour.com, or find us on X (@news_carrefour) and LinkedIn (Carrefour).

 

About Vusion

Vusion (formerly VusionGroup) is the global leader in AI-powered digitalization solutions for physical commerce, serving over 350 major retail groups in the world.

The group develops technologies that bring together the Internet of Things (IoT), data, and artificial intelligence (AI) to power Connected Commerce — transforming physical stores into intelligent, efficient, and sustainable environments for retailers, associates, and shoppers. It provides stores with solutions for operational excellence, local ecommerce, data-driven commerce, and retail media & shopper experiences. Through its integrated ecosystem, comprised of three layers, Vusion Intelligence, Vusion Connect, and Vusion Retail IoT, Vusion delivers the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AioT) for retail, helping the industry unlock higher performance, better experiences, and more responsible growth.

A pioneer in Positive Commerce, Vusion is committed to building a more sustainable, transparent, and human-centered retail future. The company supports the United Nations Global Compact initiative and has received a Platinum Sustainability Rating from EcoVadis, the world’s reference for business sustainability ratings.

Vusion is listed in compartment A of Euronext™ Paris and is a member of the SBF120 Index.

Ticker: VU  –  ISIN code: FR0010282822  –  Reuters: VU.PA  –  Bloomberg: VU.FP

https://www.vusion.com/

vusion@apellaadvisors.com  

Carrefour and Vusion join forces to deploy the smart store at scale
Carrefour and Vusion join forces to deploy the smart store at scale

Strutt ev¹, the World’s First Smart Everyday Vehicle, Ignites Global Demand as Early-Bird Pre-Orders Outpace Projections Within Weeks

SINGAPORE, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Strutt Inc., the award-winning mobility brand recognized by the Red Dot: Luminary and the CES Innovation Award, announced today that global pre-orders for its flagship ev¹, the world’s first Smart Everyday Vehicle, have surpassed initial sales targets within a month of its early-bird launch. The demand exceeded the company’s preliminary projections, signaling a shift in expectations for high-end personal mobility.

The response underscores a significant, unmet demand for mobility solutions that harmonized advanced engineering with standout industrial design. By combining everyday practicality with intelligent, vehicle-grade capability, the ev¹ has quickly gained traction among early adopters and tech enthusiasts worldwide.

“The velocity of these pre-orders confirms that we’ve struck a chord with a community that has been underserved by traditional mobility options for far too long,” said Tony Hong, Founder and CEO of Strutt. “The response to our January 2026 pre-order launch and subsequent roadshow has been remarkable, with about 75% of test-drive participants placing a new order or securing an existing pre-order immediately after their experience. This conversion rate gives us the confidence to accelerate initial production and move faster on commercial expansion.”

A Co-Designer Edition for Early Supporters

All customers in the first production batch will receive a special Co-Designer Edition of the ev¹. As early believers in the brand, these customers are recognized as foundational contributors to the product’s evolution and will receive an official Co-Designer Certificate commemorating their participation.

This initiative reflects Strutt’s belief that innovation is community-driven. With over-the-air (OTA) updates and continuous feature refinement, early customers will play an active role in shaping the long-term development of the ev¹ platform, helping raise the experience for the broader community over time.

Strategic Production and Delivery Acceleration

To address the influx of orders, Strutt is executing a coordinated operational scale-up across manufacturing, supply chain, and channel infrastructure to ensure disciplined growth and consistent quality.

Prioritized Fulfillment

Early-bird customers will retain priority delivery status under Strutt’s allocation framework. Production sequencing will follow confirmed order sequence by country and region, with phased fulfillment designed to preserve transparency and customer confidence. With capacity adjustments now underway, Strutt expects first customer deliveries to begin in Q2 2026.

Supply Chain Expansion

Strutt is reinforcing upstream component sourcing and deepening collaboration with core manufacturing partners to increase throughput while maintaining the precision engineering and rigorous quality controls required for its award-winning design. Additional logistics measures are being implemented to mitigate bottlenecks and strengthen production resilience as volumes scale.

Channel Support

To sustain demand conversion and support market expansion, Strutt is scaling its global test-drive and experiential roadshow network. The company is working closely with international partners to optimize regional allocation planning, enhance pre-order management, and strengthen localized customer support infrastructure.

“We are scaling with discipline,” said Tony Hong. “Our priority is not just delivery, but durability and reliability, and the operational and after-sales backbone needed for long-term category leadership.”

Pre-Orders Reopened

Following the rapid sell-out of its initial run, Strutt has released an additional allocation and reopened their pre-order. Pre-orders will remain open through the end of February via Strutt’s official website: Strutt ev¹ Pre-Order Deposit

About Strutt

Strutt is a Singapore-incorporated robotics company redefining personal transport through advanced sensing, self-driving technology, and award-winning industrial design. Since its global unveiling at CES 2026, the Strutt ev¹ has defined a new category in intelligent personal mobility, engineered to deliver electric-vehicle-level safety, intelligence, and control in a compact personal vehicle built for everyday use.

GIBO Announces Breakthrough in Proprietary AIGC Engine, Entering Next-Generation Intelligent Content Infrastructure Phase

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — GIBO Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIBO) today announced a significant technological breakthrough in its proprietary AIGC (AI-Generated Content) multimodal engine, marking the transition into a next-generation intelligent content production architecture. The upgrade delivers structural improvements in generation efficiency, narrative consistency, large-scale batch production, and compute optimization, reinforcing GIBO’s position as a scalable AI content infrastructure provider.

This advancement represents more than a feature enhancement—it reflects a foundational redesign of the engine’s computational framework and algorithm orchestration layer, transforming the AIGC system from a creative tool into an industrial-grade production engine.

Core Breakthrough: From Content Generation to Controlled Intelligence

The latest upgrade introduces three major technical innovations:

1. Unified Multimodal Computational Architecture

GIBO has restructured its orchestration logic across video, image, text, and audio generation modules, enabling a unified inference framework. This integration significantly enhances cross-modal coherence—improving logical alignment between scripts, characters, dialogue, and visual scenes while reducing generation drift.

2. Intelligent Compute Scheduling and Inference Optimization

Through proprietary inference compression algorithms and dynamic compute allocation models, the upgraded engine increases throughput under the same hardware conditions. In large-scale content production scenarios, this optimization substantially improves efficiency while lowering per-unit generation costs.

3. Structured Narrative Control Layer

A newly introduced structural narrative control system enables adjustable parameters such as pacing, emotional curve, tension density, and scene sequencing. This capability is particularly valuable for short dramas, advertising materials, and high-frequency performance-driven content formats.

From Creative Tool to Industrial-Scale Production Engine

As the global short-form video and short-drama market shifts toward high-volume, rapid-iteration production cycles, traditional workflows face scalability limitations. GIBO’s enhanced AIGC engine is engineered to support industrial-level production requirements, including:

  • Simultaneous generation of multi-version content for performance testing
  • Automated structural optimization tailored to platform-specific distribution
  • Parallelized, high-density content output
  • Rapid multilingual localization and market adaptation

This transition establishes a more predictable, scalable, and controllable content creation infrastructure for platform partners and enterprise clients.

Strengthening Platform-Level Infrastructure

The upgraded AIGC engine will be fully integrated into GIBO Create and aligned with the broader GIBO Click ecosystem, creating a closed-loop system connecting content generation, analytics, and monetization frameworks.

By reinforcing the technological backbone of its content engine, GIBO continues building a durable AI-driven production infrastructure where creative output, performance metrics, and economic value are intelligently interconnected.

Long-Term R&D Commitment

GIBO stated that it will continue investing in multimodal model optimization, inference efficiency enhancement, and domain-specific AI model development to further improve controllability, precision, and production scalability.

This breakthrough not only elevates current product capabilities but also lays the foundation for large-scale deployment across short dramas, digital advertising, e-commerce content, and cross-media storytelling applications.

About GIBO Holdings Limited

GIBO Holdings Ltd. is a unique and integrated AIGC animation streaming platform with extensive functionalities provided to both viewers and creators that serves a broad community of young people across Asia to create, publish, share and enjoy AI-generated animation video content. With over 83 million registered users and advanced AI-powered tools, GIBO seeks to redefine the landscape of digital content creation.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements also include, but are not limited to, statements regarding projections, estimates and forecasts of revenue and other financial and performance metrics, projections of market opportunity and expectations, the Company’s ability to scale and grow its business, the Company’s advantages and expected growth, the Company’s ability to source and retain talent, and the Company’s cash position, as applicable. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of the Company’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that it has a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, the Company cautions you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known and projections of the future, which are inherently uncertain. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent the views of the Company as of the date of this press release. Subsequent events and developments may cause those views to change. Except as may be required by law, the Company does not undertake any duty to update these forward-looking statements.

Contact Information

Investor Relations:
Bill Zima
ICR, Inc.
William.zima@icrinc.com 

Media Relations:
Edmond Lococo
ICR, Inc.
Edmond.Lococo@icrinc.com

Old Thai Film Quote Sparks Cross-Border Social Media Trend

This photo is used for representational purpose only.

A five-syllable sentence with no obvious meaning has become one of the most talked-about phrases on social media across Laos and Thailand. 

“Buk Xieng Mun Taiy Leo”, roughly translated as “Buk Xieng is dead”, has spread rapidly online and into everyday conversation, with people using it to prank friends, strangers, and anyone within earshot. 

The humor lies entirely in its absurdity: anyone who hears it is left baffled, asking the same question,  “What does ‘Buk Xiang is dead’ even mean?” or “Who is Buk Xieng?” 

And that confusion is precisely the point.

How It Started

The trend was reignited by a Thai Facebook creator known as “Buk Tuan” (บักต่วน), who posted a video on 11 February. In the clip, he is driving when he spots a man fishing alone by the roadside, a complete stranger. On impulse, he stops and shouts “Buk Xieng Mun Taiy Leo!” at the unsuspecting fisherman, leaving him utterly bewildered. 

Viewers found the reaction hilarious, and the video quickly went viral. 

Buk Tuan later explained he wasn’t making anything up,  he simply borrowed the phrase from an old movie and decided to use it on a random person.

The Phrase Has a 20-Year-Old Origin

The sentence actually comes from a 2006 Thai film called “ฅนไฟบิน” (Dynamite Warrior), a popular action-comedy made in the Isaan style of northeastern Thailand. 

In one memorable scene, the father of the female lead walks up to his daughter, who is waiting for her boyfriend, a man named Buk Xieng, and delivers the devastating news: “Buk Xieng is dead.” The actress’s emotional reaction made the scene stand out, and for anyone who grew up watching Thai Isaan cinema, the line has been lodged in memory ever since.

For Thais and Laos over the age of 20, the phrase carries a faint sense of nostalgia. For everyone else, it’s completely meaningless, and that’s what makes it so contagious.

What Do the Words Actually Mean?

“Buk” is a prefix used in the Lao language and the Isaan dialect of northeastern Thailand. It functions as a prefix before a male name, somewhat like “Mr.” or “guy.” Among close friends, it carries a casual, affectionate tone. Used toward someone older or unfamiliar, however, it can come across as rude or disrespectful. Elders sometimes use it toward younger men without any offense intended, context is everything.

“Xieng” or sometimes spelled as “Xiang”refers to a man who was once ordained as a novice monk and has since left the monkhood, a title used to acknowledge his religious background. “Mun Taiy Leo” simply means “is already dead.” Put it together: “That guy Xieng,  the former monk,  he’s dead.” 

A perfectly dramatic movie line. A perfectly baffling thing to shout at a stranger.

Crossing the Mekong

Because Lao and Thai are closely related languages, mutually intelligible in many respects, the phrase spread naturally across the border. 

Since Buk Tuan’s video went up on 11 February, people on both sides of the Mekong River have been posting photos or videos, pranking friends, and dropping the phrase into conversation for no reason at all. 

The joke, if it can be called one, is that there is no joke. It just sounds absurd, and somehow that’s enough.

Tadej Pogačar Appears at KuCoin EU Launch Event in Vienna

VIENNA, Austria, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — World-class cyclist Tadej Pogačar appeared in Vienna alongside KuCoin leadership at the official KuCoin EU launch event, marking his first public appearance in connection with the platform’s recently announced partnership.

The event brought together KuCoin CEO BC Wong, KuCoin EU Managing Director Sabina Liu, KuCoin EU COO Christian Niedermüller, senior executives, media representatives, and invited guests to celebrate the launch of KuCoin EU and introduce the partnership to a European audience.

Pogačar joined KuCoin’s leadership team during the press conference and later attended the VIP gala, underscoring the collaborative nature of the relationship. His presence reflected the shared values at the center of the partnership — discipline, consistency, and long-term performance.

“At the highest level of cycling, success comes from preparation and staying focused over time,” Pogačar said during the event. “Performance is built step by step, and trust is earned the same way.”


KuCoin CEO BC Wong noted that the partnership represents a shared belief in professionalism and sustained excellence.

“Tadej’s approach to elite sport reflects discipline and consistency at the highest level,” BC said. “Those qualities resonate strongly with how we think about long-term development.”

Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished cyclists of his generation, Pogačar has earned global recognition for sustained success on cycling’s most demanding stages. His emphasis on preparation, safety, and consistency has made him one of the defining athletes of modern professional cycling.

The Vienna launch event marked a public milestone for the partnership, bringing together sport and digital innovation in a setting that emphasized professionalism and long-term commitment rather than short-term visibility.

KuCoin stated that the collaboration will continue to evolve through value-driven engagement, highlighting shared principles of performance, discipline, and credibility.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform trusted by over 40 million users across 200+ countries and regions. The platform delivers innovative and compliant digital asset services, offering access to 1,000+ listed tokens, spot and futures trading, institutional wealth management, and a Web3 wallet.

Recognized by Forbes and Hurun, KuCoin holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 certifications, underscoring its commitment to top-tier security. With AUSTRAC registration in Australia and a MiCA license in Austria, KuCoin continues expanding its regulated footprint under CEO BC Wong, building a reliable and trusted digital-asset ecosystem.

Learn more: www.kucoin.com

About Tadej Pogačar

Tadej Pogačar is one of the world’s leading professional cyclists and among the most accomplished athletes of his generation. A four-time Tour de France champion and the current UCI Road World Champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest riders of the modern cycling era. Known for his discipline, consistency, and technical precision, Pogačar has achieved sustained success at the highest level of professional cycling.