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: MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred on Monday from running in next year’s presidential election after officials ruled he was ineligible to take part due to a suspended prison sentence he says was trumped up.
The decision by the central election commission was widely expected as election officials had repeatedly declared  Navalny  would be ineligible to run. Twelve members of the 13-member commission voted to bar  Navalny . One member abstained  citing a possible conflict of interest.
 Navalny   41  who polls show would struggle to beat incumbent Vladimir Putin in the March election  said he would appeal and called on his supporters to boycott the election and campaign against it being held.
“We knew this could happen  and so we have a straight-forward  clear plan ”  Navalny  said in a pre-recorded video released immediately after the decision.
 Navalny  said  he  would use  his  campaign headquarters across Russia to support the boycott and monitor turnout on voting day  March 18.
Polls show Putin  65  who has dominated Russia’s political landscape for the last 17 years  is on course to be comfortably re-elected  making  him  eligible to serve another six years until 2024  when  he  turns 72.
 Navalny  says Putin’s support is exaggerated and artificially maintained by a biased state media and an unfair system. He says he could defeat him in a fair election  an assertion Putin’s supporters have said is laughable.
‘DO  THE RIGHT THING’
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny  speaks to the media after submitting  his  documents to be registered as a presidential candidate at the Central Election Commission in Moscow  Russia December 24  2017. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
Before the commission voted   Navalny   dressed in a dark suit  had demanded  he  be allowed to take part in the election delivering a speech that angered election officials.
In one heated exchange   he  said Russian voters’ faith in the system hung in the balance.
“If you do not allow me to run  you are taking a decision against millions of people who are demanding that  Navalny  take part ”  he  said  referring to  himself  in the first person.
“You are not robots  you are living  breathing human beings you are an independent body ... for once in your lives  do the right thing ”  he  said.
 His  supporters clapped  him   but officials were unmoved.
Ebzeev said there could not be “the slightest doubt” that  Navalny  was ineligible to run  a reference to Russia’s constitution that bars him running because of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case.
 Navalny  has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing  and says the case is politically motivated.

SOLUTION: Alexei Navalny

PROBLEM: Regional leader Carles Puigdemont  is due to address the regional parliament on Tuesday afternoon and Madrid is worried  it  will vote for a unilateral declaration of independence.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont at the Palau de la Generalitat  the regional government headquarters in Barcelona  Spain  October 6  2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman
 Puigdemont  said on Sunday  he  had not been in contact with the Madrid government for some time because  it  refused to discuss independence.
“What is happening in Catalonia is real  whether they like it or not. Millions of people have voted  who want to decide. We have to talk about this ”  he  said.

SOLUTION: Carles Puigdemont

PROBLEM: American Sage Kotsenburg won gold in the event at the Sochi Games in 2014. We brought him into the âOlympics Cornerâ today for his thoughts on how to watch. Keep scrolling to read that Q&A.
Throughout the Games  weâll occasionally bring someone in to help us better understand the Olympics. Today:  Sage Kotsenburg .
Four years ago in Sochi   Sage Kotsenburg  shocked the snowboarding world by winning slopestyle gold.  He  followed that up with what President Barack Obama told  him  was the âchillestâ interview of the Olympics.  Kotsenburg  has since stopped competing  so  he  wonât be in PyeongChang. But The Post caught up with  him  by phone during a recent film shoot in Italy to get  his  thoughts on this yearâs slopestyle event (8 p.m. Eastern time Saturday on NBCSN).
A: Three people that I would look for are an American kid  Red Gerard.  He âs absolutely crushing it right now. This course  when I saw it  I immediately thought Red can really do well here. I wouldnât be surprised to see  him  on the podium  if not up in the top five.
And then Mark McMorris  who got bronze last time around.  He  came back from a really  really bad injury  so Iâd like to see  him  do good  too. Weâve been good friends for a long time.  He âs crushing it  too.  He âs doing a really  really  really good job right now. Iâd like to see  him  up there.
Iâll give a prediction for gold: Itâs going to be Marcus Kleveland.  He âs from Norway.  He  has pretty much anything you want in a slopestyle course and more. So  if  he  puts down  his  run   he âll probably win or silver  Iâd guess.

SOLUTION:
Sage Kotsenburg