This International Dateline episode includes three segments: The Siege of Beirut, Dr. Eran Lerman Interview, and Madam President.

The Siege of Beirut  
During years of civil war in the '70s and '80s, the resilient Beirutis held on grimly as missiles and bombs rained down. Since then, billions of dollars have been poured into rebuilding the city, literally from the ground up, and until recently, it looked as if Beirut was once again a vibrant, cosmopolitan Mediterranean city. Over the past violent month, however, the bad old days returned and large parts of the Lebanese capital, once famously dubbed "the Paris of the Middle East" now looks like Stalingrad after the Second World War. Dateline reporter Nick Lazaredes was in Beirut before and after the announcement of the cease-fire. 
 
Dr. Eran Lerman Interview  
Across the border in Israel, the angst and political fallout from the war has been both unexpected and considerable. Many are questioning Prime Minister Olmert's handling of the conflict and whether he is the right man to lead Israel in these precarious times. Also at issue, whether his Kadima Party, which heads the country's governing coalition, will survive. Dateline's George Negus spoke from Jerusalem with Dr. Eran Lerman, the executive director of the American Jewish Committee's Middle East Office. Dr. Lerman served in the Israeli Defense Force, where he was a colonel in military intelligence. 
 
Madam President  
'Segomania' is a pretty odd term you have probably never heard before. Dateline certainly hadn't, until Dateline embarked on a profile of a French politician called Segolene Royal. A recent poll named Segolene Royal as France's most popular politician. Not only a woman, but an unabashed socialist, Madame Royal believes she will be the next French president. However, the biggest challenge she faces comes not just from within her own party but from within her own home. Her archrival for the job of Socialist presidential candidate is her own husband. On a recent trip into provincial France, Ginny Stein experienced Segomania up close. 

About International Dateline 

SBS Dateline, which began in 1984, is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program. It has a well-earned reputation for authoritative and incisive reporting. Dateline has taken the traditional way of producing TV current affairs and turned it on its head. Reporters who used to travel with a cameraperson and sound recordist now travel alone and have the responsibility of both filming and reporting their stories. The reporters became video-journalists, gaining access to people and places that the conventional camera crews cannot.