TASK DEFINITION: Given a document, find the main entity about whom the author is writing. Write the full name if mentioned in the text. Note that URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].
PROBLEM: Stephen Paddock  fired hundreds of rounds out of a 32nd story window in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday night  police have said  killing 59 and injuring over 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.
 Paddock  had no military training. According to Paddockâs family and the ongoing police investigation   he  had a penchant for guns and some experience hunting. But there is no indication  he  had formal training.
Nevertheless   he  managed to kill dozens and wound hundreds from 32 stories above the ground and a distance of three to five football fields between  him  and  his  victims.
The reason  he  was able to carry out the massacre lies largely with the tools at  his  disposal and the completely helpless nature of  his  targets.
Some of the weapons had scopes to increase  his  effective range. The length of the bursts of fire suggest  Paddock  likely used extended magazines to store many times a firearmâs normal capacity in ammunition.
All of Paddockâs guns legally belonged to him. Nevada  where  Paddock  lived  allows the sale of high-capacity magazines  high-caliber weapons and ammunition  and military-style weapons  but it doesnât allow fully automatic weapons.
 Paddock  got around the limitation of government-mandated semi-automatic weapons by using something called a âbump stock â which effectively turns a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic  according to The Associated Press.
From 300 to 500 yards away  the crowd of 22 000 were essentially âfish in the barrel â which is how country singer Jake Owens  who was on stage in Las Vegas  described that night. It wouldnât take a military operative or master marksman to inflict grievous damage on a crowd with the tools  Paddock  had available.
 Paddock  simply rained down bullets on an unsuspecting crowd that was focused on the stage. Because bullets from high-powered rifles travel at supersonic speeds  the first shots probably hit the victims before the sound of the rifle even rang out.

SOLUTION: Stephen Paddock

PROBLEM: Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller broke his own record this week for guilty pleas. On Tuesday  Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan appeared in federal court and admitted he had lied to investigators about his contacts with  Donald Trump's former campaign vice chairman  Rick Gates .
On Friday   Gates himself  appeared before a federal judge and confirmed that  he  is changing  his  plea to guilty.  He  had been fighting the case brought against  him  and the former Trump campaign chairman  Paul Manafort  which alleged they laundered millions of dollars and broke other laws related to their work for clients in Ukraine.
 Gates  and Manafort have not been charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by "impairing  obstructing and defeating the lawful functions of the government through fraud and deceit for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. political and electoral processes." That was the charge Mueller leveled at 13 Russians and three Russian companies he says did interfere with the election.
Or the special counsel's office could be laying down one brick in a larger structure. At the very least   Gates'  future testimony against  his  longtime business partner raises the likelihood that Manafort could be convicted of some or all of the charges  he  continues fighting.
Manafort and his lawyers know this. So one of Mueller's strategies in getting  Gates  to turn state's evidence might be to persuade Manafort to do the same and tell what he knows about other people in the Trump campaign orbit.
Or evidence from  Gates  might be what the special counsel's office needs to build a case against Manafort for conspiring in the 2016 Russian interference effort. Or  after years of working with Manafort   Gates  might have other evidence that would permit Mueller to bring new charges against Manafort.
Mueller announced a new indictment in Manafort's case on Friday evening. After  Gates  appeared in federal court Friday to enter his plea  Manafort continued to maintain his innocence and said he remained committed "to defend myself against the untrue piled up charges contained in the indictments against me."

SOLUTION: Gates

PROBLEM: South Africa’s ruling Africa National Congress (ANC) party  has decided to formally ask  corruption-dogged President Jacob Zuma  to step down  following a marathon meeting by  the party’s  leadership this week.
 The ANC’s  executive committee gave  the embattled president  a 48-hour deadline to resign  Reuters reports.
 Zuma  has refused repeated calls to relinquish the presidency amid mounting graft scandals and despite the election of deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as leader in December.  Zuma  who has served as South Africa’s president since 2009   has insisted on seeing out the end of  his  term in mid-2019.
It remains unclear if  Zuma   75  will relent on Tuesday  but if  he  does not   he  is expected to face a vote of confidence in parliament that  he  is likely lose  further jeopardizing  his  grip on power  the BBC reports.
 Zuma ’s popularity has plunged as  his  second presidential term has been married by allegations of corruption and mismanagement of state funds.
In 2016  South Africa’s highest court ruled that  Zuma  violated  his  oath of office when  he  used an estimated $15 million of government money to upgrade  his  private home.  Zuma  later repaid some of the funds  but  the BBC says  a court ruled that parliament failed to properly hold the president to account and must lay down guidelines for impeachment.
In October  South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal moved to reopen nearly 800 corruption charges against  Zuma   related to a $2 billion government arms deal in the 1990s.
 Zuma ’s alleged links to South Africa’s influential Gupta family  who are suspected of brokering influence in the government  also led the ANC to open a probe last year.

SOLUTION:
Jacob Zuma