MANILA: Grammy winner Chris Brown partied in Macau with a gold-toothed grin, as officials said Saturday he had left his promoter in a Philippine jail facing a legal dispute with a powerful religious sect.
The 26-year-old American hip-hop star left Manila airport on board a Gulf Stream jet late Friday as immigration police arrested his promoter, John Michael Pio Roda for fraud, immigration bureau spokeswoman Elaine Tan told AFP.
Brown had been barred from leaving the Philippines for three days after the politically-connected Christian group Iglesia ni Cristo filed the fraud complaint against him and his promoter Roda.
The group said it was owed a million-dollar-plus refund after he failed to show up for a New Year’s Eve concert sponsored by them last year.
But Brown secured a emigration clearance certificate on Friday, and immediately flew to Macau to host a party dubbed “Girls Night Out.”
“Yo Manila we love y’all but Macau is poppin’ We’re in a Rolls Royce baby!” Brown said in a video posted on his Instagram account where the pop music lothario has 12 million followers.
“We made it!” one of his companions blurted, in an apparent reference to Brown’s Manila ordeal.
Brown’s gold-plated teeth shimmered in the two videos taken on the backseat of his limousine and in his Macau hotel room.
The tattooed and pierced star said on Twitter that he would perform in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Roda, a Canadian national, will be detained in Manila until the immigration bureau resolves his deportation case for fraud in connection with the Iglesia case and working in the country without a permit, Tan said.
The deportation proceedings is separate from the criminal complaint filed at the justice department, which will determine whether charges will be filed in court, she said.
“Chris Brown was allowed to leave because he had no derogatory record and there was no warrant of arrest against him,” she said.
Justice department officials did not return calls seeking comment on the status of the criminal complaint against Brown.
Brown left Manila on Friday after posting bizarre videos on social media, backflipping and spewing profanity as he begged Philippine authorities to let him leave.
Brown’s ordeal almost cost him his world tour, which includes stops in Israel, Cyprus and the Netherlands.
Chris Brown parties in Macau as Philippines jails his promoter
Chris Brown parties in Macau as Philippines jails his promoter
Makkah museum displays world’s largest Qur’an
MAKKAH: The Holy Qur’an Museum at the Hira Cultural District in Makkah is showcasing a monumental handwritten copy of the Holy Qur’an, recognized as the largest Qur’an of its kind in the world.
The manuscript measures 312 cm by 220 cm and comprises 700 pages, earning the museum recognition from Guinness World Records for displaying the world’s largest Qur’an, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The manuscript is a magnified reproduction of a historic Qur’an dating back to the 16th century, the SPA stated.
The original copy measures 45 cm by 30 cm, with the chapters written primarily in Thuluth script, while Surah Al-Fatiha was penned in Naskh, reflecting the refined artistic choices and calligraphic diversity of the era.
The Qur’an is a unique example of Arabic calligraphy, gilding and bookbinding, showcasing Islamic art through intricate decorations, sun-shaped motifs on the opening folio, and elaborately designed frontispiece and title pages that reflect a high level of artistic mastery.
The manuscript was endowed as a waqf in 1883. Its original version is currently preserved at the King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries, serving as a lasting testament to Muslims’ enduring reverence for the Qur’an and the richness of Islamic arts across the centuries.
