Tonight:

Victory and loss. The Parti Quebecois wins a minority government in Quebec -- but the celebrations are thrown into turmoil by a gunman who kills one man and wounds another.

A "Dear Jean" letter. Andre Pratte has spent years pondering the mysteries of Jean Charest -- and now that the Quebec Liberal leader is resigning, he'll tell us what he's learned.

Unclear and present danger. Tomorrow, former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day will have to explain why Mohamed Mahjoub was arrested under a security certificate -- despite never having been charged in Canada.

Happily ever laughter. Respected BBC newsreader Charlotte Green is about to retire after decades on the air -- and we'll salute her with the one clip she probably never wants to hear again.

The remains of the jay. An American scientist discovers that a bird called the scrub jay observes the death of one of its own in a surprising way.

And...at first they were stumped -- and now the pines will be. In order to get the space shuttle Endeavour to its new home at the California Science Center, a whole mess of trees will bite the dust.

As It Happens, the Wednesday edition. Radio that hopes tree-loving residents are ready to work in a field of Endeavour.

A new leader elected. The old one rejected -- and soon to step down. And a violent act that destroyed the victory celebrations. Last night was a night to remember in Quebec. For so many reasons.

As you've been hearing in the news, the Parti Quebecois and their leader, Pauline Marois, won the election, with a minority government.

But the incoming premier's victory speech was interrupted by violence: a gunman shot and killed one man, and injured another, at an exit near the stage in Montreal's Metropolis theatre, where victory celebrations were taking place.

Today, Ms. Marois had a lot to talk about with reporters. Here's what she said about the incident, for the record.

As for outgoing premier Jean Charest, he announced his resignation as Liberal leader this afternoon. We'll have more on that later in the program.

Sophie Stanké was the PQ candidate for the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne riding in Montreal. She lost that race to a Liberal candidate. But last night, she was at the Metropolis, celebrating with Ms. Marois. And she was also near the stage when things went horribly wrong.

We reached her in Montreal.

Before the shooting, last night's victory for the PQ was pure celebration. And a lot of Quebec students believe it's their victory too. Many of the student protesters of the past months have aligned themselves with the party; Pauline Marois promised to freeze tuition, and even, for a time, wore their symbolic red square.

Some of those students were at a Montreal bar, watching the results as they came in. Martine Desjardins was one of them. She is the president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec. Here's her reaction to the new government in Quebec:

Tomorrow, Stockwell Day will be in court. Or, more precisely, an image of Stockwell Day will be in court. He'll be making an appearance -- via video-conference -- to testify in the case of Mohamed Mahjoub.

Mohamed Mahjoub has been the subject of a Security Certificate since 2000, and has been in detention or under house arrest for the past twelve years. He is accused by the Canadian government of being a terrorism suspect.

Stockwell Day was Canada's Public Safety Minister from 2006 to 2008. As such, he was responsible for amending the Security Certificate legislation after the Supreme Court of Canada struck it down in 2007, for violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And during his virtual day in court, he'll be asked to explain why he considered Mr. Mahjoub to be a threat to national security.

Yavar Hameed is one of Mohamed Mahjoub's lawyers. He will be questioning the former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day tomorrow. He's in Toronto.

Every now and then, a fashion magazine takes a stand on women's issues that shakes up the status quo.

Let's start with "then". Back in October of 2009, one of Germany's top fashion magazines, Brigitte, announced that, after careful consideration, it would no longer use models in its editorial spreads and features. Starting with its January 2010 issue, advertisers could still use models -- and any original content created by the magazine, including fashion and beauty shoots, would be done using "normal" women reflecting Germany's ethnic, social, and size diversity.

On October fourteenth, 2009, Carol spoke with Susanne Gundlach, the fashion director of Brigitte, about why the powers-that-be had decided to make this change. Here's part of what she said, from our archives.

Today is a sad day for BBC Radio 4 listeners around the world.

The Beeb has announced that one of the station's best-loved newsreaders, Charlotte Green, will be leaving the station at the end of the year. She is taking voluntary redundancy because of cuts.

Charlotte Green has been a regular on Radio 4 since the nineteen-seventies. She's famous for her husky, breathless voice and steadfast composure when reading the news.

But for audiences outside of the U.K., Ms Green is perhaps more famous for an instance when those characteristics failed her.

From March 28th, 2008, here is BBC Radio 4 newsreader, Charlotte Green, losing her composure during the news.

When Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced that he would execute all of the country's death row prisoners, he made that announcement very publicly. It drew international condemnation.

But last week, when nine of those forty-seven prisoners were actually killed, details of the executions were clouded.

What Alhagie Sowe knows now is that one of those nine people was his good friend, Alieu Bah.

Mr. Sowe no longer lives in The Gambia. We reached him in Vancouver.

After twenty-five missions and more than two-hundred-and-ninety-nine days in space, the space shuttle Endeavour is making one last trip. It will travel from its current location at the Los Angles International Airport to its final resting place at the California Science Center.

Now, when it was streaking triumphantly into space, the Endeavour was the very picture of grace. But on the ground, tethered by the surly bonds of Earth, it's a lot more ungainly. Which is evidenced by its route to the Science Center: it will be driven through the streets of South Los Angeles. Which will require a lot of trees that line the route to be cut down.

Johnny Ranes lives in Leimert Park in South L.A. His neighbourhood is slated to lose trees thanks to the shuttle. We reached him in Leimert Park.

Alex Zanardi lost his legs, but -- as he proved today -- not his desire to win.

The Italian ex-Formula One driver was severely injured on a racecourse in Germany in 2001 when he collided with a Canadian driver. But losing his legs didn't spell the end of his racing career.

Last year, Mr. Zanardi told the BBC about his decision to devote himself to handcar racing.

It seems that some birds of a feather flock together -- even in death.

A researcher from the University of California has been studying western scrub jays. And she has discovered some unusual practices by the birds when they encounter one of their dead.

Teresa Iglesias is said researcher. We reached her in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

As you heard at the beginning of the program, and on the news, Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest is calling it quits. His decision comes following last night's defeat at the hands of the Parti Quebecois, and the loss of his own seat in Sherbrooke.

Here's part of what Mr. Charest said today at a news conference, for the record.

Mr. Charest's career will go down as one of the longest and most varied in Canadian politics. In 1993, at twenty-eight, he became the leader of the federal Progressive Conservative party, after it was reduced to two seats following a federal election.

Five years later, he left federal politics to run for -- and win -- the leadership of the Quebec Liberal party. A staunch federalist -- he was dubbed "Captain Canada" -- Mr. Charest became premier of Quebec in 2003 -- a position he held until yesterday's election.

Andre Pratte began his journalism career around the same time as Mr. Charest entered politics. He is the editorial page editor for Montreal's La Presse newspaper. He is also the author of six books, including a 1998 biography, Charest -- His Life and Politics. To look back on Mr. Charest's career, we reached Andre Pratte at his office.

The Pakistani girl who, it seems, was framed for blasphemy now has an unexpected ally.

Rimsha Masih is a mentally-disabled fourteen-year-old. As we told you a few nights ago, police in Islamabad recently arrested her for blasphemy. On the weekend, one of her accusers, a local Muslim cleric, was detained. He's accused of planting false evidence -- torn pages of the Koran -- into a bag of ashes the Christian girl was carrying.

Islamic leaders are traditionally staunch defenders of the country's blasphemy laws, which human rights groups say are widely abused. But now, a senior Muslim cleric has come forward to publically defend Rimsha Masih.

Hafiz Mohammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi is the head of the All Pakistan Ulema Council clerics' group. We reached him in Lahore.

Ernest Hemmingway said that his favourite sport represented the only place where you could see life and violent death after World War Two ended. And since he did not live to experience Ultimate Fighting, he was talking about bullfighting.

And were he alive today, the sport's most famous fan would be pleased. After a six-year absence, bullfighting is returing to Spanish state television.

State TV stopped showing fights after the last socialist government said the sport was too violent and too expensive for broadcast. But Spain's new conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is a fan of the sport -- and overturned the ban.

Bullfighting has been losing support in recent years. Fans hope this will make it popular again, and generate income for Spain's ailing economy. Animal rights activists, meanwhile, say this is a backwards move.

Here is some audio from the broadcast of the fight earlier today from Spain's RTVE. You can hear fans react as "El Juli"-- one of bullfighting's most storied matadors-- delivers the final blow to a half-ton bull.

Ned Cabot loved the sea. And Canada's east coast in particular.

The retired doctor from Boston was sailing on its waters this past weekend when he was swept overboard by a rogue wave near Stephenville, Newfoundland, and died. He was on the last leg of a long tour of the North Atlantic -- only a few hundred kilometres from his final destination.

Peter Ellis was a friend of Mr. Cabot who sometimes sailed with him. We reached him in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

It's a tough sell to convince animals to stop sinking their teeth into each other. They consider it an important part of their lifestyle. But Tasmanian devils are going to have to learn some restraint in that department. Because according to scientists, only the strong-willed will survive.

That's because of a disfiguring disease that's plaguing Tasmanian devils. It's called Devil Facial Tumour Disease, or DFTD. It's an infectious cancer that's often fatal -- because the tumours and lesions it causes interfere with the devil's ability to eat. And it's transmitted through biting.

A team of researchers from the University of Tasmania has just published a new study on DFTD. According to that study, devils that get fewer bites themselves are more prone to getting the disease. That's because they're the more aggressive ones -- the ones doing most of the biting.

Therefore, the researchers conclude, the less biting a devil does, the less chance it has of contracting DFTD. Which means a creature who could be called "Nature's Russell Crowe" has to figure out a way to evolve into a gentle, adorable furball. And it has got to start keeping its mouth shut.

Look, these are strong words. But someone has to play devil's advocate. All we can do is hope they'll listen.

Now, from their latest album "Love In The Time of War", here are Men Without Hats, with a song we'll send out to the Tasmanian devil. It's called "Devil Come Round".