Today's Story Line:

Why did the Afghan hijackers fly to Britain? It appears to be an elaborate - and controversial - bid for political asylum for them and their "hostages".

Venezuela's President Hugo Chvez came to power promising a "revolution" that roots out corruption. Now close allies are accusing his administration of committing the same sins.

Many South Africans mark today - the anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison - as the beginning of the end of apartheid.

David Clark Scott, World editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB..

*MANDELA MEMORIES: When Nelson Mandela was released from prison on this day 10 years ago, Johannesburg-based Corinna Schuler was a cub crime reporter at a Canadian paper. "I was home in Calgary that weekend and watched his release on television. The next day, I gathered with some friends to see CBC nightly news presenter Barbara Frum interview Mandela. It was very moving," recalls Corinna. "But in 1990, I thought Mandela was the only man in South Africa who gave up 27 years of his life for the liberation of blacks. Since coming here, I've discovered that many, many people made a similar sacrifice with little or no recognition," she says.

*YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION: Reporter Phil Gunson covered the 1979 Nicaraguan revolution. But he's puzzled by the constant use of the term by Venezuela President Hugo Chvez. "Mr. Chvez took over a democratic system that was hobbled by cronyism and corruption," he says. His revamping of constitutional powers is "not a revolution in the classic left-wing sense that property is taken, and wealth is redistributed," says Phil. Chvez is changing the constitution and the rules of the political game. "But it seems more like reformism than revolution," Phil says.

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