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: As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits the Middle East this weekend  he'll hope to achieve something that has eluded top American diplomats for a generation: sealing a new alliance between Saudi Arabia and Iraq that would shut the doors of the Arab world to neighboring Iran.
The effort to wean Iraq from Iran and bond it to Saudi Arabia isn't new  but U.S. officials are optimistically pointing to a surer footing they believe they've seen in recent months. They're hoping to push the improved relations into a more advanced phase Sunday when  Tillerson  participates in the inaugural meeting of the Saudi Arabia-Iraq Coordination Committee in Riyadh.
 Tillerson  will seek Saudi financial generosity and political support for Iraq  its embattled northern neighbor. Two U.S. officials said  Tillerson  hopes the oil-rich Saudis will contribute to the massive reconstruction projects needed to restore pre-IS life in Iraqi cities such as Mosul and lend their backing to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He is treading delicately among a host of powerful countries on Iraq's borders which are increasingly trying to shape the future of the ethnically and religiously divided nation.
 Tillerson 's decision to skip that gathering was widely criticized at the time as a sign of disengagement with his employees  but the official said  Tillerson  adjusted plans to speak by secure telephone to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on the Iraq rapprochement.

SOLUTION: Rex Tillerson

PROBLEM: ESPN said Hundley's claims are without merit. The Connecticut-based network said its investigation found Hundley's characterization of the events inconsistent.
 "Hundley's claims are without merit and we will vigorously defend against them " ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Her current charges do not accurately portray ESPN's handling of the matter."
 Phillips acknowledged his relationship with Hundley.
 Phillips and Hundley were fired in October.
Hundley's claims are without merit and we will vigorously defend against them " ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Her current charges do not accurately portray ESPN's handling of the matter."

SOLUTION: Hundley

PROBLEM: Federal prosecutors have intensified their criminal investigation of the cyclist Lance Armstrong since the Tour de France ended last month. They questioned many of his former associates -- including cyclists who have supported and further detailed claims that Armstrong and his former U.S. Postal Service team participated in systematic doping  according to a cyclist who has been interviewed and two others privy to the inquiry.
 In May  Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis shocked the cycling world by publicly accusing Armstrong and other team members of using performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions to gain an unfair advantage. Landis said that Armstrong -- the biggest name in the sport -- had encouraged the doping and that the team had sold its bikes to help finance an expensive doping program.
 Armstrong has denied any wrongdoing and has said that Landis  who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title for doping and received a two-year ban from the sport  had no credibility.
 A former teammate of Armstrong's said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he has spoken with investigators. He said he detailed some of his own drug use  as well as the widespread cheating that he said went on as part of the Postal Service team -- all of which was done with Armstrong's knowledge and encouragement.
 Armstrong is considered one of the more remarkable athletes in American history  someone who dominated his sport and also had a compelling personal story  having beaten testicular cancer.
 Jeff Novitzky  a special agent for the Food and Drug Administration  is in charge of the investigation and has been interviewing Armstrong's former teammates and associates. Novitzky -- the head investigator in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative steroids case -- is trying to determine if Armstrong  his teammates  the owners or managers of his former team conspired to defraud their sponsors by doping to improve their performance and win more money and prizes.
 Armstrong did not respond to requests for comment put directly to his agent and his manager on Wednesday.
 Toward the end of the Tour de France  Armstrong  a seven-time winner of the event  said he would deny any involvement in doping "as long as I live."
 Bryan D. Daly  a defense lawyer representing Armstrong  said any cyclists who claim that Armstrong had doped were not telling the truth.
 "They just want them to incriminate Lance Armstrong and that's my concern " Daly said  adding that the prosecutors were working closely with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to pressure Armstrong's former teammates. "To the extent that there's anyone besides Floyd Landis saying things  the bottom line is  if you take away the soap opera and look at the scientific evidence  there is nothing."
 "If Lance Armstrong came in second in those Tour de France races  there's no way that Lance Armstrong would be involved in these cases " Daly said. "I think that the concern is that they are caught up in the pursuit of a celebrity to catch him in a lie."
 Armstrong  who has just returned from a post-Tour vacation in the Bahamas  was in Denver Wednesday to announce a weeklong stage race to be held next August in Colorado. To promote the event  he rode through the city's downtown streets with Gov. Bill Ritter  drawing a large crowd.
 In Denver  Armstrong told The Associated Press that he had "nothing to say" about the federal investigation.

SOLUTION:
Lance Armstrong