Recent work has explored the capability of large language models (LLMs) to identify and correct errors in LLM-generated responses. These refinement approaches frequently evaluate what sizes of models are able to do refinement for what problems, but less attention is paid to what effective feedback for refinement looks like. In this work, we propose looking at refinement with feedback as a composition of three distinct LLM competencies: (1) identification of bad generations; (2) fine-grained natural language feedback generation; (3) refining with fine-grained feedback. The first step can be implemented with a high-performing discriminative model and steps 2 and 3 can be implemented either via prompted or fine-tuned LLMs. A key property of this approach is that the step 2 critique model can give fine-grained feedback about errors, made possible by offloading the discrimination to a separate model in step 1. We show that models of different capabilities benefit from refining with this approach on the task of improving factual consistency of document grounded summaries. Overall, our proposed method consistently outperforms existing end-to-end refinement approaches and current trained models not fine-tuned for factuality critiquing.

Washington, DC – The response from US President Joe Biden's administration to Iran's historic missile and drone attack on Israel has been two-fold: Washington has re-upped its pledge to always stand by its "ironclad" ally Israel, while also appealing to the government of Benjamin Netanyahu not to take further action that could drag the region into wider war. The days ahead will show if those two options are compatible, or if the two governments' priorities are on collision course, analysts told Al Jazeera. In the short term, the Iranian attack is a coup for both Israel and its backers in the US: From their perspective, it offers renewed justification for military support to Israel while weakening the world's focus on alleged abuses committed in Gaza in seven months of war, according to Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Washington-based Quincy Institute. But defiance from Netanyahu to US calls for restraint could find the Biden administration further hamstrung by its political and ideological commitments to Israel, which could eventually drag Washington into a wider war, he added. "The Israelis have been told by Biden to take this as a win and stop here," Parsi told Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian Hamas group has expressed support for Iran after it launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for a deadly assault on its consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus. In a statement on Saturday, Hamas, which governs the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, said it affirmed "the natural right" of countries and peoples in the Middle East to defend themselves "in the face of Zionist aggressions". "The military operation carried out by Iran against the Zionist entity is a natural right and a due response to the crime of targeting the consulate in Damascus," it said. The Iranian salvo, fired late on Saturday night, consisted of more than 300 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones, according to the Israeli military. Some 99 percent of the projectiles were intercepted, an Israeli spokesman said, with help from France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Iraqi media broadcast video that reportedly shows Iranian missiles passing through the country. Iran's mission to the United Nations argued that the country's missiles and drones fired toward Israel were justified, warning the U.S. to "stay away." "It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!," Iran's mission to the United Nations said in a statement. Iran's warning came as U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News that the U.S. military is continuing to shoot down Iranian drones that are headed toward Israel. "U.S. forces in the region continue to shoot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel. Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region," a U.S. military official said.

The White House vowed Saturday that the United States' support for Israel's security is "ironclad," pledging to stand with the Jewish state and "support their defense" after Iran launched an aerial drone attack towards the country Saturday afternoon. Iran launched drones from its own territory toward Israel late Saturday, days after its Supreme Leader warned it would hit back in response to an airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria that left several generals dead. "Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement Saturday. "President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House." The White House said the president's team "is in constant communication with Israeli officials as well as other partners and allies."

Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot provides details on the major strike on an Iraqi militia leader and the U.S.'s response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea Three armed drones were shot down in Iraq on Tuesday, near where U.S. and other international forces are stationed, officials said. Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said its forces intercepted and shot down the drones over Erbil airport in northern Iraq at around 5:05 a.m. It did not say if there were any casualties or damage to infrastructure. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Similar previous attacks have been claimed by a group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Iran announced late Monday that it had launched strikes against a "spy headquarters and the gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups" shortly after missiles hit an area near the U.S. consulate in Irbil, the seat of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Soon after, a statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards on state media said it had struck "terrorist operations" including Islamic State targets in Syria "and destroyed them by firing a number of ballistic missiles." Another statement claimed that it had hit a headquarters of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Iran claimed responsibility Sunday for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard earlier this week. No injuries were reported in Sunday's attack on the city of Irbil, which marked a significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Hostility between the longtime foes has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.

Beijing – China and the United States will set up a joint working group on climate change, China's official Xinhua News Agency said, in a potentially positive takeaway from what was an unusually rancorous high-level meeting. The top Chinese and U.S. diplomats, in their first meeting of Joe Biden's presidency on Thursday and Friday, publicly rebuked each other's policies at the start of what Washington called "tough and direct" talks in Alaska. But the Chinese delegation said after the meeting the two sides were "committed to enhancing communication and cooperation in the field of climate change," Xinhua said on Saturday. They would also hold talks to facilitate the activities of diplomats and consular missions, "as well as on issues related to media reporters in the spirit of reciprocity and mutual benefit," the report said. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Sunday.

Ex-IBM CEO Sam Palmisano and Cyber Readiness Institute Managing Director Kiersten Todt join'Special Report' with analysis WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has notified Congress that it intends to shutter the last two remaining U.S. consulates in Russia. The State Department told lawmakers last week that it would permanently close the consulate in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and temporarily suspend operations at the consulate in Yekaterinburg just east of the Ural Mountains. The notice was sent to Congress on Dec. 10 but received little attention at the time. That timing predates by three days the public emergence of news about a major suspected Russian computer intrusion into U.S. government and private computer systems that has raised grave cybersecurity fears. Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks via video call during a news conference as journalists wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus, observe social distancing guidelines watch him at a big screen in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020.