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: David Allen  owner of A&M Auctioneers and Appraisers   never quite knows what’s going to turn up from the old homes and shops of the Eastern Shore.
Once   he  said   he  came across a box of wooden and metal washboards from an old general store  100 years old and looking new.
 Allen  said this was the first time  he  had come across a KKK robe as part of an estate.
 Allen  told  her  the auction house was contractually bound to sell all the items from the estate — including the robe. But together with the seller   he  arranged to donate proceeds from its sale toward college costs for one of  his  employees  whom  he  described as an immigrant from Nigeria studying in the United States.
“We didn’t really want it publicized ”  Allen  said. But the solution was “something that we feel was fair ”  he  said  given the item’s legacy.
 Allen  said that under the terms of the auction house’s contract   he  couldn’t reveal the buyer or the seller. But  he  said the robe  which sold Feb. 7 during the online auction  went for about $1 300.
“Take it or leave it  it’s a piece of history ”  Allen  said.

SOLUTION: David Allen

PROBLEM: The prime minister of France  Manuel Valls   said fighting the appeal of âdeadlyâ doctrines was the greatest challenge the country faced in more than 70 years.  He  said there had to be a âgeneral mobilisationâ of all sectors of society to fight the problem following the terrorist attacks in Paris last year.
âRadicalisation and terrorism are linked. We are faced with a stubborn phenomenon that has widely spread through society and which threatens it because it could expand massively â  Valls  said.
The strategic document that focuses on detection and prevention of radicalisation was unveiled by  Valls  in the presence of several ministers in Franceâs socialist government including those responsible for justice  defence  education  health  culture  youth and sports.
Facebook Twitter  Pinterest Manuel Valls  speaks after government meeting aimed at tackling radicalisation. Photograph: WITT/SIPA/Rex/Shutterstock
The deradicalisation centres will house young people who âcould have repented and who we will test the sincerity and willingness to be reintegrated back into society for the long termâ   Valls  said.
 He  said the aim of the centres would be to stem the flow of young people to Syria and Iraq and begin the process of deradicalising them.
At least half of the new centres will hold those deemed by a judge to be at risk of radicalisation but cannot be placed in detention   Valls  added.

SOLUTION: Manuel Valls

PROBLEM: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled Thursday that sales of the central bank's holdings in mortgage-backed securities may play a more prominent role in the withdrawal of monetary stimulus than he indicated last month.
 "I anticipate that at some point we will in fact have a gradual sales process " Bernanke said Thursday in testimony to the House Financial Services Committee. In prepared remarks  he avoided repeating a February statement that the Fed won't sell any securities "at least until after policy tightening has gotten under way." Instead  he said Thursday the tool is one way of "applying monetary restraint."
 "We would like to get back to an all-Treasury portfolio within a reasonable amount of time " Bernanke said in response to a question from Rep. Jeb Hensarling  R-Texas. The balance sheet should eventually be reduced to less than $1 trillion  Bernanke told Rep. Ron Paul  R-Texas  who advocates abolishing the Fed.
 Raising the interest rate paid on funds deposited by banks at the Fed  as well as so-called reverse repurchase agreements that temporarily drain cash from the banking system  will still be among the main tools for tightening credit  Bernanke said.
 "The FOMC is not comfortable with holding all of these securities until they mature  as some would be 30 years  and we want to move more quickly than that back to the pre-crisis balance sheet " Bernanke said. The Fed wouldn't sell assets in a "really weak economy " he said.
 At the same time  Bernanke didn't say when the Fed would begin executing its strategy. He said the U.S. economy still needs low interest rates and that the central bank will be ready to tighten credit "at the appropriate time."
 "The economy continues to require the support of accommodative monetary policies " Bernanke said in prepared testimony  repeating parts of a statement to the panel from last month.
 Thursday's hearing  originally scheduled for Feb. 10  was postponed because of a snowstorm. The Fed went ahead and released Bernanke's prepared testimony that day  in part to lay the groundwork for a planned increase in the interest rate the central bank charges for direct loans to banks.
 Responding to questions  Bernanke said the "unemployment situation is very weak " and the housing market is "still quite weak."

SOLUTION:
Ben Bernanke