Promoter: Singer innocent of Braxton scam May 27, 2009
Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) -- A concert promoter testified Tuesday that he alone tried to foist off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton at a show that has since been dubbed the "Phony Toni" concert. Angel Ventura, 45, told a judge that Braxton impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn was an unwitting participant of his scheme that tricked people in this tiny South American country into paying up to 53 a ticket for the Feb. 28 concert in... (Sioux City Journal, IO)
Hugh Jackman to launch `Wolverine' in Mexico May 12, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A Suriname promoter acknowledged trying to pass off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton at a disastrous show dubbed the "Phony Toni" concert by local media, his lawyer said Thursday. MOVIE NEWS. (Hanford Sentinal, CA)
Promoter admits to Braxton scam May 9, 2009
Ms Johnson-Finn, 40, who is in custody in the country's capital Paramaribo, says she did not know she was advertised as the real Braxton. Scapegoat. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Lawyer: Man admits phony Toni Braxton scam May 8, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A concert promoter accused of trying to pass off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton has confessed to arranging the scheme in Suriname, his attorney said Thursday ... Finn also alleged that Ventura, who was arrested Monday in a bar in Paramaribo, the capital of this small former Dutch colony, pilfered the box office proceeds ... Investigators said she had gone into hiding immediately after the Paramaribo concert turned into a melee. (MSNBC -- News)
Braxton 'tribute act' faces trial May 8, 2009
Trina Johnson-Finn was booed off stage in Paramaribo in March and pelted with rubbish when the huge crowd realised she was not the award-winning artist. She is in custody awaiting her fraud trial which begins on 26 May. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Toni Braxton impersonator faces trial in Suriname May 6, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- A Las Vegas-based entertainer has been jailed after prosecutors said she tried to pass herself off as Toni Braxton at a concert, prompting the disappointed crowd to jeer and pelt the stage with trash ... Rosita Leeflang, a newspaper reporter from Paramaribo, was there with a friend ... He was arrested Monday in a bar in Paramaribo, the capital of this small former Dutch colony with 480,000 inhabitants. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Caribbean news briefs May 5, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A former justice minister was sentenced Monday to a year in prison after being convicted of money laundering and participating in a criminal organization on behalf of a cousin in the Netherlands. Siegfried Gilds laundered drug money from his cousin by buying homes and land between 2000 and 2005 while serving as justice minister in this former Dutch colony, Surinamese Judge Anand Charan said at a sentencing hearing in a Paramaribo court. (NJ.com -- News)
6 named for $150K Goldman Environmental Prizes Apr 19, 2009
Huga Jabini and Wanze Eduards, Paramaribo & Pikin Slee Village, Suriname. Together they organized against logging on their communities' traditional lands, leading to a landmark court ruling on the rights of tribal peoples to control resources in their territories. (USA Today)
U.S. Celebrity Impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn Jailed Unjustifiably in South America after Alleged Toni Braxton Concert Scam Mar 25, 2009
Angel Ventura of Events 4 Suriname - a Paramaribo, Suriname company - promoted the event to the Surinamese people as a Toni Braxton Concert. Ventura contracted Johnson through RNRH Entertainment. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
In debate over official language, Suriname seeks itself Mar 23, 2008
And merchants throughout Paramaribo speak Chinese, even though the numbers of Chinese immigrants are small ... Paramaribo, unlike many other regional capitals, has no direct flights to large cities like Miami or S. (International Herald Tribune -- Ed/Op)
Animal trap kills Peace Corps volunteer Dec 9, 2007
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A Peace Corps volunteer was killed in Suriname when she accidentally set off a gun rigged as an animal trap, police said. The woman, identified as 25-year-old Blythe Ann O'Sullivan, was shot in the leg Thursday and apparently bled to death before she could get medical treatment, police spokesman John Jones said Saturday. (MSNBC -- International)
Gates Says US Aid Not Linked to Need for New Latin America Base Oct 8, 2007
A trusted source of newsand information since 1942. I know that there's been a good deal of speculation about the purpose of my trip to various countries in Latin America, and I can tell you that the subject of an American base did not come up at a single one of my stops," he said. U.S. officials say they hope the Ecuadorian government will change its position, and in the meantime they are exploring options for other locations. But the subject is so sensitive in Latin American countries, they... (Voice of America)
Guyana, Suriname must share a potentially rich oil source, UN tribunal rules Sep 21, 2007
In Paramaribo, President Ronald Venetiaan of Suriname said his government "is delighted and relieved that the maritime dispute with Guyana has been settled.". The U.N. tribunal established a maritime boundary between Guyana and Suriname that differed from the boundaries previously claimed by the neighbors on the north shoulder of South America. (International Herald Tribune)
* Suriname plans for high-level Taiwan visit anger Beijing Jul 5, 2007
David Chin, secretary of the private Suriname-Taiwan Friendship Foundation in Paramaribo, said the visit would neither be delayed nor canceled as a result of pressure from Beijing. He said China had no right to dictate who Suriname could and could not have relations with. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Mining OK'd where species discovered Jun 15, 2007
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - Suriname will let mining companies pursue excavation projects in an eastern jungle region where scientists recently discovered two dozen new species of wildlife, the environment minister said Wednesday. Environment Minister Joyce Amarello Williams said the government will take measures to protect wildlife diversity while encouraging investment in gold and bauxite exploration and open-pit mining in the small South American nation. (MSNBC -- International)
Top 10 Up-and-Coming Travel Destinations Announced by VirtualTourist Jun 14, 2007
Gdansk, Poland Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada Nesebar, Bulgaria San Ignacio, Belize Antananarivo, Madagascar Paramaribo, Suriname Xining, China Broome, Australia Harz Mountains, Germany Tofo Beach, Mozambique. About VirtualTourist. (Yahoo News -- Press Releases)
A package of news briefs from the Caribbean Jun 8, 2007
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) - Suriname's ruling coalition sent a delegation to China on Thursday in an effort to boost trade and bilateral relations, the government announced Thursday ... PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) - Suriname's state oil company and U.S.-based Murphy Exploration and Production Co. agreed Thursday to jointly explore a large offshore block in the South American nation's territory. (The Ledger)
'Extraordinary' number of species discovered Jun 7, 2007
The previously unknown creatures were discovered in the Nassau plateau and Lely Mountains region about 80 miles southeast of Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. It included areas with enough clean fresh water sources to support abundant fish and amphibians. (Yahoo News -- Animals & Insects)
24 Species Believed New To Science Discovered In Suriname Rainforest Jun 6, 2007
Small-scale mining has already affected the two unprotected plateaus surveyed during the RAP expedition, 80 miles south of the Suriname capital of Paramaribo. Because it is imperative for mining companies to understand their potentially harmful impacts on the environment, CI partnered with BHP-Billiton Maatschappij Suriname (BMS) and Suriname Aluminium Company LLC (Suralco), a subsidiary of Alcoa Inc., to conduct the RAP expedition. (Science Daily)
Scientists announce 24 species in Suriname Jun 6, 2007
PARAMARIBO A frog with fluorescent purple markings and 12 kinds of dung beetles were among two dozen new species discovered in the remote plateaus of eastern Suriname, scientists said Monday ... Scientists discovered the species during a 2005 expedition led by the U.S.-based nonprofit Conservation International in rain forests and swamps about 130 kilometres southeast of Paramaribo, the capital of the South American country, organization spokesman Tom Cohen said. (Globe and Mail)
Purple fluorescent frog discovered in Suriname Jun 5, 2007
"When you go to these places that are so unexplored and so remote, we do tend to find new species ... but most of them are insects," Alonso said by telephone from Suriname's capital, Paramaribo. "What's really exciting here is we found a lot of new species of frogs and fish as well.". (Xinhuanet, China)
Purple Frog Among 24 New Species Found in Suriname Jun 5, 2007
"When you go to these places that are so unexplored and so remote, we do tend to find new species ... but most of them are insects," Alonso said by telephone from Suriname's capital, Paramaribo ... These creatures were discovered by 13 scientists who explored a region about 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Paramaribo, including areas with enough clean fresh water sources to support abundant fish and amphibians. (Planet Ark, United States)
Ask the Pilot (70) May 26, 2007
Paramaribo's airport in Suriname sounds like a mini version of what you describe ... Paramaribo is on my short list for World's Worst. (Salon)
Radius Ensemble offers a radiant performance of a deeply personal work May 9, 2007
If you said Paramaribo, you're doing better than Canadian composer Claude Vivier, who inadvertently transposed the city's vowels in his 1978 chamber piece "Paramirabo." Vivier decided to keep the misspelling, as it could then also refer to the Mirabeau Bridge in Paris -- a typical, idiosyncratically poetic gesture for one of music's great uncategorizable modernists, who forged a deeply personal avant-garde style. "Paramirabo" was the highlight of the Radius Ensemble's concert at MIT's Killian... (Boston Globe)
A sweet promotion: BHSU graduate and guardsmen excited about new rank Mar 30, 2007
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - For the first time in history, a South Dakota National Guardsman has been promoted abroad by a U.S. Ambassador and the individual was born, raised and educated right here in the Northern Hills. Allen Godsell, a member of the South Dakota Army National Guard, was promoted to the rank of captain at a ceremony March 15, at the U.S. Embassy in the capitol city of Paramaribo ... Godsell spends most of his time in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. (Black Hills Pioneer, SD)
[Senior CPC leader starts visit to Suriname] Mar 28, 2007
PARAMARIBO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Senior CPC official Li Changchun arrived in Paramaribo Tuesday afternoon, starting a goodwill visit to this Caribbean country ... Li is to meet with President Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan and other significant figures of the government, parliament and political parties of Suriname during his stay in Paramaribo. (Xinhuanet, China)
Work stoppage at Suriname gold mine Jan 27, 2007
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Operations at IAMGolds Rosebel gold mine in Suriname have been suspended since Thursday, after being hit by a strike, company officials confirmed ... The gate at the gold processing plant some 100 kilometers south of the capital Paramaribo, and all the roads to the open pit mine are barricaded with haul pack trucks and other heavy duty mining equipment. (Caribbean Net News)
CAPTAIN HUBERT Jan 20, 2007
In 1950 he moved to Paramaribo, Suriname as Port Captain and manger for Alcoa Suriname Operations. While in Suriname he served as the Honorary Norwegian Consul to Suriname, South America. (DeRidder Beauregard Daily News, LA)
Women's Tennis Ranks No. 70 in ITA Pre-season Poll Jan 11, 2007
and of Paramaribo, Suriname will join the Cardinal roster. The Cards were ranked No. 74 in the final 2006 Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) year end poll. (Uoflsports.com)
