It was a pithy summary of Steven Spielberg’s landmark monster movie and the series it launched that left audiences gasping in wonder as they handed over a dino-sized $3.8 billion for tickets over four films.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” — the fifth episode — comes to the US having already opened in 48 territories, shooting to the top spot in each, breaking several records and grossing $151 million.

“It’s wonderful that it’s still popular and not yet extinct,” Spielberg, an executive producer on “Fallen Kingdom,” said at its Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday.

He praised the imagination and creativity of Michael Crichton, the late author of the novels, and revealed that he thought of the “Jurassic” series as part of his family.

“It’s kind of like being a birth parent, and you give your kid up for adoption but you’re really proud of the adoptive parents for doing a great job with your original idea,” he said.

China will be running for its life from T. rex this weekend, where experts are predicting a $100 million-plus debut, followed by Latin America and North America on June 22.

– Mass extinction –

“Jurassic World” (2015) remains among the all-time top five grossing movies, despite competition in the intervening years from four “Star Wars” episodes and eight releases in Disney’s Marvel comic book stable.

The latest foray among the Cretacious critters of Isla Nublar — T. rex and the velociraptor are far too young to be considered Jurassic-period animals — involves the high-octane action that audiences have come to expect, including all manner of terrifying therapods and oversized marine predators.

“We’re really thrilled. It’s been received really well critically and commercially around the world so far,” Chris Pratt, who plays swashbuckling raptor wrangler Owen Grady, said on the red carpet in LA.

“If the rest of the world is any indication, I think people are really loving it and are really going to go out and see it, which is fantastic. It means we can probably do another one.”

Directed by J.A. Bayona (“A Monster Calls”) and co-written by Colin Trevorrow, who helmed “Jurassic World,” the movie opens three years after the theme park was abandoned, with the dinosaurs roaming freely.

Isla Nublar’s long-dormant volcano has awoken and is spewing lava, threatening another mass extinction.

Goldblum briefly reprises his role as Ian Malcolm, the grumpy but perspicacious chaos mathematician from the first and second films, to make his case for letting the big, scary lizards die off.

– Stiletto backlash –

But Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) has been transformed from the frosty, corporate stuffed suit introduced in the last movie into a bleeding heart animal rights activist — and she has other ideas.

Howard’s stilettos sparked a backlash to “Jurassic World,” mainly because it was seen as absurd, if not a little sexist, to have the female lead continually running for her life in vertiginous heels.

In a move interpreted as the franchise thumbing its nose at the critics, Howard is still wearing six-inch pumps as she drives to old flame Owen’s lakeside cabin to talk him into joining her on a mission to round-up and rescue the dinosaurs.

“We hope to just honor the legacy that Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg began with ‘Jurassic Park’ 25 years ago. The fact that people liked ‘Jurassic World’ and also that we got to do another movie, that’s incredible,” Howard said.

“My son is 11 and when I saw ‘Jurassic Park’ for the first time I was 12. That means so much to me that he’s going to go to the theater and watch this movie opening weekend with his friends.”

A sixth film, tentatively titled “Jurassic World 3,” is scheduled for release on June 11, 2021.//AFP

“The post-mortem report concluded the cause of death as being complication of blast injuries attributable to an exploding handphone that was being charged next to him,” the company’s management said in a statement Friday.

“Speculation on the cause of his death is completely unnecessary and unacceptable at this time.

“We request for everyone to respect the privacy of the family during this time of grief. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all those he touched on his journey,” it added.

According to a family friend, Nazrin had complained of a migraine that afternoon and went to bed after taking some medication.

The Fire and Rescue Department said it received a report at 12.30pm and despatched two fire engines and 14 firemen to the scene.

They arrived at 12.46pm and the fire was put out at 12.53pm.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Zani Che Din told The Star on Thursday that around 30% of the victim’s body had been burnt.

In its statement Friday, Cradle said that for over 15 years, Nazrin had dedicated his efforts to promoting early stage funding for technology startups.

“His vision and love for innovation will always be at the core of what we do. Nazrin loved his work, but his greatest love was for his wife and children,” the statement read.

“Cradle has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being,” said chief operations officer Razif Aziz.

“Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Nazrin have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor,” he added.

Chief investment officer Juliana Jan said, “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this news”.

“Having worked with him for many years, his vision and passion have brought endless possibilities to not just Cradle, but to the startup ecosystem.

“He touched and inspired us, the Cradle family, along with many startup founders, investors and partners. He was a one-of-a-kind leader and visionary who made an incredible mark in the startup ecosystem.

“Our thoughts and prayers for his wife and children,” she added.

Cradle is a Finance Ministry company that looks into developing entrepreneurs and the Malaysian startup ecosystem. It was the agency that gave early funding to companies like ride-hailing pioneer Grab (previously MyTeksi) and fintech startup iMoney.

Nazrin was educated in Britain with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B Hons) from the University of Buckingham in 1994, and was also an executive committee member of the UK Executive Council for Malaysian Students.

From 1997 to 2000, he was served as an executive in corporate finance at CIMB before launching his own startup, Zarnet, in 2001, Cradle said in its statement.

He is a former council member of the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM), where he lobbied tirelessly for a development fund to narrow the funding gap in the early stage.

This eventually led to the successful introduction of the Cradle Investment Programme (CIP) in June 2003 with a fund allocation of RM100mil from the Government, as part of an economic stimulus package.

CIP was initially managed by Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (Mavcap) and Nazrin became the programme’s Head of Structuring in July 2003.

In 2004, he was appointed the programme’s acting head as well as its strategy and policy advisor.

He left the programme in 2005 to focus on his own technology startup and continued to be an active member of TeAM, but returned to Cradle in October 2007 as its chief executive officer after it was spun off from Mavcap.

Nazrin leaves behind his wife Samirah Muzaffar, a senior executive at the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (MyIPO), their young son, three stepsons and a son from a previous marriage.

Khajornsak said the around-the-clock test would wait until Malaysian authorities confirmed the Bukit Kayu Hitam border checkpoint was ready for the trial.

The trial run would see both border checkpoints operate around the clock for cargo transport and logistics, rather than the usual 5am to 11pm hours. It was scheduled to kick in on Friday, with the aim of making 24-hour operations permanent on January 1, 2019 if the trial was successful.

Meanwhile Thailand’s National Security Council has requested the Foreign Affairs Ministry to check with their Malaysian counterparts to help confirm whether the trial run would take place, said the deputy governor.

“Songkhla province has had no update from the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry about Malaysia’s response,” he said. “If they cannot yet give a confirmation, it means they are still waiting for the government’s policy. We cannot just operate 24 hours a day on one side anyway.”

The top American diplomat made a flying visit to Beijing to brief China’s leadership on Tuesday’s historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

He also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Pompeo appeared with Wang in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People for a brief press conference, where the two discussed the prospects for cooperation on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

But while the two world powers have worked together to pressure Pyongyang, their relations have been been fraught by tensions on other issues.

One particular sore spot has been the massive trade imbalances between the two countries, a bone of contention for Trump.

“Our deficit with China is still too high,” Pompeo warned, adding the issue was a key concern for the US president, who will decide Friday whether to impose tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports.

“We hope the US will meet the Chinese half way and use a win-win, instead of lose-lose approach,” Wang said, urging Washington to refrain from “creating further obstacles to our cooperation”.

Taiwan tensions

The two sides also aired grievances over security issues, with Wang saying he had “expressed grave concerns” over recent US actions on Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province.

Beijing has consistently opposed moves by the Trump administration to strengthen ties with the self-ruled island, which split from the mainland in 1949.

Two days after the US opened a de facto embassy in Taipei, Wang said he had urged the US to “stop official exchanges and all military links with Taiwan”.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said Taiwan came up in Pompeo’s meeting with Xi.

“Xi expressed his hope that the United States will handle sensitive issues, including the Taiwan issue and economic and trade frictions, in a prudent way to avoid serious obstruction to bilateral ties,” Xinhua said.

On North Korea, Xinhua quoted the Chinese leader as saying that Beijing was committed to seeing “denuclearisation of the peninsula and its peace and stability”.

The news agency said Pompeo brought a message from Trump conveying his appreciation for Xi’s “important advice and help over the Korean Peninsula issue”.

The issue of the South China Sea was also addressed by Pompeo at his press conference with Wang.

Pompeo said he had “reaffirmed our concern with respect to China’s efforts to build and militarise outposts in the South China Sea, endangering the free flow of trade, and threatening the sovereignty of other nations and undermining regional stability”.

Beijing has transformed reefs and islets in the resource-rich region’s waters into artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities.

China had pledged it would not militarise the area, where it has overlapping claims with Vietnam and the Philippines, among others.

But the US has accused Beijing of breaking that promise by deploying a range of military hardware including anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles and electronic jammers across the region.

The victims — 59 men, eight women and four children, including a baby — came from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, joining hundreds of thousands like them trying to reach Germany in 2015 at the height of Europe’s worst migrant crisis since World War II.

The “iPal” was among a slew of new tech unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia in Shanghai this week, offering education and company for lonely children and peace of mind for adults.

The humanoid device stands as tall as a five-year-old, moves and dances on wheels and its eyes keep track of its charges through facial recognition technology.

Parents can also remotely talk to and monitor the children through the iPal, which is linked to a smartphone app that allows them to see and hear everything.

“The idea for this robot is to be a companion for children,” said Tingyu Huang, co-founder of AvatarMind Robot Technology.

“When a child sees it, he or she will think of the robot as a friend, as another child in the family.”

In this picture taken on June 13, 2018 iPal robots by Avatarmind are exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia in Shanghai on June 13, 2018. A Chinese firm has a created a companion for children with few or no siblings in a country that limits births: “iPal” stands as tall as a five-year-old, speaks Chinese and English, gives math lessons and tells jokes. // AFP PHOTO

Their 9,000 yuan ($1,400) did not dampen interest from buyers watching a performance of several iPals dancing in unison.

“They’re pretty cute. I was just thinking my own two-year-old daughter would love one,” Mike Stone, a buyer from Australia said.

China’s young working parents often face the burden of taking care of children or elders without help from a large extended family, as the impact of the country’s decades-long one-child policy lingers. The limit was raised to two children in 2016.

“I don’t think the robots can replace parents or teachers,” Huang said. “But iPal can be a complementary tool to relieve some of their burden.”

China’s robot market is also catching onto needs from a growing population of elderly “empty nesters” who prefer to grow old at home rather than at a nursing home.

AvatarMind will soon launch another robot that can talk to seniors, remind them to take their pills and call the hospital when they fall.

Beijing has invested money and manpower in developing AI as part of its “Made in China 2025” plan.

A Chinese firm unveiled the country’s first human-like robot, which can hold simple conversations and make facial expressions, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last year.

The iPal is the latest humanoid robot to be marketed for family use, following in the footsteps of the diminutive, wisecracking “Pepper” companion released by Japan’s SoftBank in 2015.

The ministry urged the public not to purchase the illicit products. It said because they were not registered, their origins are unclear and they weren’t tested to assess their efficacy or negative health effects on users.

“The products make you have sex many times,” part of the statement read.

The ministry warned that legal action would be taken against anyone importing, selling or distributing PLUS FORT or similarly unregistered products.

Pov Pisey, a Facebook vendor, said she had sold the Developed Sex supplement since 2016 when buyers asked for such products.

“All products like this have negative effects. Even using hand lotion can be harmful,” she said.

Health Ministry spokesman Ly Sovann could not be reached for comment.

“Rest? Papa rested enough in jail. Now we have to continue working – people are waiting, people have given us the mandate. If we don’t implement (policies), the people’s support would be in vain,” he said in a Hari Raya clip uploaded on his Facebook page.

Anwar was responding to a question from his daughter Nurul Nuha about his plans now that he is a free man, who suggested that he “rest first”.

“If we only think of our own comfort, we are not different from the old regime,” he told Nurul Nuha.

“We have to continue just a little more,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah later joined the conversation and said things have become more difficult after Pakatan won GE14.

“Things are tough after Pakatan won as we have to fulfil all our pledges. But with the support of the Rakyat, we will be able to do it,” she said.

“Good. Just like what we have done all along,” Anwar said, hugging his wife and daughter.

The video starts with a scene of Dr Wan Azizah looking at an empty chair at home.

“1998-2004, 2015-2017” appears on the scene, signifying the years Anwar was not there to celebrate Hari Raya with the family.

The video also features Anwar having a family dinner and ends with Hari Raya Aidilfitri wishes from the entire family.

National broadcaster ABC published a leaked photo of the 2007 incident and cited a defence source as saying it was more a “twisted joke” than evidence of genuine neo-Nazism.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said displaying a Nazi flag was “absolutely wrong”.

“Completely and utterly unacceptable,” he told reporters. “It was reported (to officials) in 2007, that incident, and the flag obviously was removed and the personnel involved were disciplined,” he told reporters.

“But the incident, it was wrong … it was absolutely wrong, and their commanders took action at the time.”

The defence department said in a statement to AFP that “neither the flag nor its use are in line with defence values”.

“The flag was briefly raised above an Australian Army vehicle in Afghanistan in 2007. The commander took immediate action to have the offensive flag taken down,” it said, adding that it was later destroyed and those involved cautioned.

“Additionally, steps were taken to reinforce education and training for all personnel who witnessed the flag.”

Australian forces have been active in Afghanistan in various roles since 2001, when the conflict there began. Around 900 were in the country in 2007, predominately in Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces.

The photograph has emerged as the actions of Australia’s special forces in Afghanistan come under intense scrutiny.

Earlier this month, elite troops were accused of committing war crimes in a secret defence report obtained by local media that described a “complete lack of accountability” from top military brass.

The investigation, reported by Fairfax Media, quoted special forces insiders saying some Australian troops engaged in the “unsanctioned and illegal application of violence on operations” with “a disregard for human dignity”.

In response, Australia’s former spy chief David Irvine was appointed last week to conduct a third inquiry into the nation’s special forces in two years.

Some 300 Australian defence personnel remain in Afghanistan.

Pompeo said Washington remained committed to the “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearisation of North Korea, after the joint statement from the US-North Korea summit in Singapore drew criticism for lack of detail on the key issue.

“We believe that Kim Jong Un understands the urgency… that we must do this quickly,” he said of the effort to have North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons.

Washington’s top diplomat is in Seoul to brief his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Tuesday’s historic talks — the first between sitting leaders of the two countries — after which a triumphant President Donald Trump said the world can “sleep well”.

Following the summit, Trump said the US would halt its “provocative” joint military drills with South Korea as long as negotiations are ongoing with the North, an announcement that caught Seoul by surprise.

But the US-South Korea alliance remains “as robust as ever”, Seoul’s foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said at a press conference with Pompeo and Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono.

Pompeo is scheduled to fly to Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart after the meetings in Seoul.