TASK DEFINITION: Given a document and an entity the task is to select the author's sentiment towards the entity. Sentiments can be Positive, Neutral and Negative. Select Positive if the article expresses a positive view towards the given entity or praises its quality or skills. Select Neutral if the document expresses no clear view towards the entity or has equal amounts of positive and negative statements or expressing some fact/quote by someone else. Select Negative if the article expresses a negative view towards like harsh remarks, criticizing entities action/decision etc. Note that URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].
PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Al Franken ? Sen. Al Franken  officially resigned on Jan. 2  nearly a month after  he  announced  his  plans to step down from Congress amid numerous sexual misconduct allegations that began in November of last year.
Aides to  the senator  told Fox News that  Franken  has provided  his  letter of resignation to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton. Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith  who is replacing  Franken   is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday.
 Franken   a Minnesota Democrat who has been in office since 2009  was plagued by multiple accusations of sexual misconduct over the past month and faced a Senate Ethics Committee investigation. The allegations began after Los Angeles radio anchor Leeann Tweeden accused him of forcibly kissing her during a 2006 USO tour.
 Franken  announced  he  would resign after more than two dozen key Democratic lawmakers called for  him  to step down.
Hereâs what will happen to  his  Senate seat once  he  leaves office  according to Minnesota election law.
Gov. Mark Dayton would appoint a new senator to fill  Franken âs seat  when  he  resigns  Ryan Furlong  a spokesman for the Minnesota secretary of stateâs office  told Fox News.

SOLUTION: Positive

PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Fadia ? So once again  we put out the call to Syrian contacts around the U.S. And we found  a woman named Fadia .  She  was born and raised in Aleppo and came to the U.S. more than 30 years ago.  She  and  her  husband raised their children here.  She  asked that we not use  her  last name because  she  still has family in Aleppo and doesn't want them to get in trouble if the wrong person hears of  her  participation in this story.
But  her  family â they were our in.
So that's how it happened that one of Fadia's relatives walked in to Syrjeia by the public garden and said  "There's a radio show in New York that wants to talk to you."
A few weeks later  I was in  Fadia 's living room in the New York suburbs calling Imad Syrjeia on an app called Viber that the Syrian government can't track. Imad's father opened the restaurant in the 1970s and has since passed away.
At first  Imad was wary.  Fadia  explained  her  family's connection to  his  and reminded  him  of the person who had come into  his  store talking about a radio show in New York.  She  said it's just a show about food â nothing political.  He  said OK.
When I asked how  he  and the restaurant were doing  Imad insisted everything was great. But  Fadia  said  he  would never dare say otherwise  in case the wrong person is listening.
" He  doesn't know you " she explains. " He  can't even say it to  me . I'm Syrian but  he  won't."
I don't speak Arabic. (Later on I had the recording of this conversation translated.) But just hearing Imad's voice coming out of the speaker in that moment was deeply moving. Knowing  his  voice was coming from a place that the news had told me was destroyed.
As  Fadia  and I said goodbye to him  he invited me to Syria.
"He will welcome you " said  Fadia  enthusiastically. "They're very generous. They welcome everybody!"

SOLUTION: Positive

PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Trump â Trump ? Vice President Pence made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Thursday. It is the first visit to the country by the president or vice president under the  Trump  administration  and comes four months after  Trump  unveiled  his  strategy for the United States' role in the country.
Afghanistan is six months away from parliamentary elections  and  the Trump administration  has sought to work with the Afghani leadership in preparation. The elections  set for July 7  have been delayed almost three years because of security concerns.
"There are two ways of looking at the situation " Chief Executive Abdullah told NPR's Steve Inskeep in November. "One is to wish things away  which I don't think that it happens in the realities of our world. [And] one is to make your best efforts to find a way out  which I think  the current administration  is doing  the U.S. administration  and we â us on the ground â the Afghans are making our best efforts to put an end to this war."
 Trump  has also mentioned the need to work with other South Asian countries  especially Pakistan  so insurgents can't seek haven outside Afghanistan's borders. In speaking to troops on Thursday  Pence said  Trump  had put the country "on notice."
"The armed forces of the United States will remain engaged in Afghanistan until we eliminate the terrorist threat to our homeland  to our people  once and for all "  he  said.

SOLUTION:
Positive