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 Mamadou Tandja ? "That's why they're still afraid of words like 'famine '" said Tiemogo  who spent three months in prison and seven in exile for publishing articles critical of Tandja.
 During the 2005 crisis  Tandja's government felt humiliated  Boher said. "They thought people were trying to make it look like it was their fault that children were dying."
 And "if you are unable to feed the population  as president  you are going to be at risk " Boher said. "Malnutrition has political implications. This is why Tandja wanted to deny there was a problem."
 One unanswered question is whether Niger's new junta will be as sensitive to the issue as Tandja's regime has been.
 So far  the soldiers in charge are overwhelmed with the burden of governing and convincing diplomats -- none of which are calling for Tandja's return -- that coup was a good thing.

SOLUTION: Negative

PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Ellie Richardson ? Lavoris Hightower  36  turned himself in Thursday night after the Cincinnati Police Department identified him publicly as the man who shot Ellie Richardson  27  Fox 19 reported.
Hightower had already been indicted for attempted murder  felonious assault  weapons under disability and tampering with evidence in  Richardson 's shooting  the police department tweeted.
 Richardson  was leaving work at Lacheyâs Bar around 3 a.m. Thanksgiving morning when  she  was walking across the street in the cityâs Over-the-Rhine neighborhood when a van nearly hit  her   police said.
 Richardson  and Hightower  who was driving the van  got into an argument before Hightower shot  her  in the face  according to Fox 19.
âThere is a $5 000 reward to help us get Hightower arrested and off of our streets " Hamilton County prosecutor Joseph Deters said prior to the suspect turning himself in  according to Fox 19. "First  Hightower nearly runs  Ms. Richardson  over with his car  and then he shoots  her  â unbelievable.â
 Richardson  sustained injuries to  her  face and jaw from the shooting  a YouCaring fundraising page â which has  as of Thursday  received nearly $60 000 in donations â stated. A Facebook page titled âEllie Richardson Recoveryâ said that â Ellie  is doing fantastic!â and that the swelling and bruising near  her  eyes âis nearly gone.â
Doctors believe  she âll be able to go home in the next few days  according to the Facebook post  which added that  she âll be undergoing âsurgery next week to repair  her  cheek bone  eye socket and a few other fractures.â
Former boy band star Lachey had written after the shooting that  Richardson  âis the brightest light and  she  will find a way to shine through this darkness.â

SOLUTION: Neutral

PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Sam ? Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club locations across the US  the company told Business Insider on Thursday. Some stores have already closed; others will close within weeks.
Walmart is closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the US  the company told Business Insider on Thursday afternoon  after reports of abrupt store closings began to emerge.
In some cases  employees were not told their store had closed before showing up to work on Thursday. Those employees learned their store would be closing when they found the store's doors locked and a notice announcing the closing  Sam's Club workers told Business Insider. At some stores  employees were turned away by police officers.
The remaining stores will stay open for several weeks before closing permanently. All of the affected stores were scrubbed from the Sam's Club website on Thursday morning.
 Sam's Club CEO John Furner  notified employees of the closures in a company-wide email sent Thursday.
"After a thorough review  it became clear we had built clubs in some locations that impacted other clubs  and where population had not grown as anticipated "  Furner  said in the email. "We will be closing some clubs  and we notified them today. We'll convert some of them into eCommerce fulfillment centers — to better serve the growing number of members shopping with us online and continue scaling the SamsClub.com business."
Sam's Club membership fees — which cost $45 annually — will be refunded to customers affected by the closings  a Walmart official said.
After a thorough review of our existing portfolio  we’ve decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy. Closing clubs is never easy and we’re committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition. — Sam's Club (@SamsClub) January 11  2018

SOLUTION:
Positive