The Front Page podcast: Can New Zealand find the cure to terrorism?

Each weekday The Front Page keeps you up to date with the biggest news in New Zealand. Today, thousands turn out to Christchurch's Hagley Park to remember those killed in the mosque shootings, a health report claims racism is to blame for preventable deaths, the City of Sails becomes the City of Cranes, and a famous clown statue has been swiped from a popular Auckland cafe. Hosted by Juliette Sivertsen.

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Spoken and sung words of unity and hope, have resounded throughout Christchurch's Hagley Park.

Event organisers estimate 20 to 25 thousand people attended the National Remembrance service in the city today, two weeks to the day since the March 15 mosque shootings, where 50 people were killed.

Another tribute service was held in Auckland this afternoon.

In Christchurch, dignitaries from all over the world travelled to be part of the event, with speeches, songs and words of worship expressed by multiple leaders.

The names of the 50 men women and children who died were read out aloud by members of the Muslim community.

President of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, Shaggaf Khan, told the crowd he had mixed feelings.

He said he could no longer see the beautiful faces of those who had died, but they were now at peace, and he was humbled by the outpouring of grief from the community.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the thousands, New Zealand could be the cure to racism and hatred.

She received a standing ovation when she declared racism was unwelcome in this country.

For more on this story, click here

Kiwi musician Marlon Williams, who is Ngai Tahu, delivered a moving rendition of waiata "Tahu Potiki".

Other musicians to perform included Maisey Rika, Hollie Smith and Teeks, as well as British singer Yusuf Islam, formally known as Cat Stevens.

Yusuf Islam talked about the love, kindness and unity that had sprung up in New Zealand, before performing "Peace Train".

Watch Marlon Williams' perform here

Google has paid tribute to the Christchurch mosque shootings.

The search engine has darkened its lettering on its homepage today, along with a message for New Zealanders written in Māori.

When you hover your cursor over the Google doodle text, a message of support pops up with the words "Kia Kaha We Stand Together".

For more on this story, click here

Some shocking figures have revealed the other side of racism - the impact on a person's mortality.

Half of Māori and Pacific deaths in New Zealand have been found to be potentially avoidable, a finding which medical experts say is a national travesty.

It compares to 23 per cent for non-Māori and non-Pacific people, and is said to be partly the result of racism, which is built in to New Zealand's health system.

The "New Zealand Medical Journal" published a strongly worded editorial, saying the findings were so alarming, they should be on the computer screensavers of any planning staff working in health organisations.

Avoidable deaths were defined as ones which could have been avoided by access to timely and high-quality intervention, or by addressing broader health risks like a person's socioeconomic status or environmental factors like the quality of their housing.

The main contributors to avoidable death rates were heart disease and trachea, bronchus and lung cancers.

For Māori males, suicide and car accidents also played a major role.

For more on this story, click here

The Mayor of the Clutha district thinks gangs in the North Island are behind a wave of organised crime in the South.

Eleven North Islanders affiliated to a gang have settled in the South after release from Otago Corrections Facility.

They are among 28 North Island prisoners released to an address in Otago in the previous two years.

Clutha District Council Mayor Bryan Cadogan says the level of organised crime in the area was worse than he had ever seen and was contributing to a "methamphetamine plague" in the South.

For more on this story, click here

Auckland is outstripping every United States city with the number of cranes on its skyline.

And nationally, New Zealand has reached an all-time high according to today's RLB Crane Index which gives an indication of construction activity.

Auckland has 98 fixed cranes.

The busiest US city, Seattle, has 59, although Toronto, in Canada, is the busiest in North America with 104 cranes.

Nationally, we have 148 long-term tower, fixed and crawler cranes as construction activity picks up pace and eight more cranes have been added since the end of last year.

Christchurch has 18 and Queenstown 11 cranes, making them second and third busiest areas.

For more on this story, click here

A global review has painted a dramatic and dismal picture of our planet under climate change, as record carbon dioxide levels soar toward increasingly dangerous levels.

The World Meteorological Organisation has today issued its State of the Global Climate in 2018 report.

And one leading New Zealand scientist says it reveals a now familiar litany of all the ways the climate is warming and changing around us.

Victoria University's Professor James Renwick says ocean heat content and sea levels are both at record highs, sea ice extent is well below normal in both hemispheres, and glaciers and ice sheets are melting.

Beyond the obvious physical impacts of climate change, Renwick says it's worrying to see the range of associated extreme weather events and impacts on human populations.

He says world hunger is on the rise and we are now talking of millions of people displaced as a result of weather and climate extremes.

For more on this story, click here

Rocket Lab has successfully launched a mission to send a satellite into space.

It's for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The 150g satellite was carried by the Electron rocket launched from the Mahia Peninsula.

It has a new type of antenna that will unfold to reach 2.25 metres in length.

If the mission is successful, it could make future communication from space much easier.

Once the satellite is safely in orbit, the rocket will return to Earth.

To see a replay of the launch, click here

The owners of a popular Auckland cafe are devastated after its iconic clown statue was stolen.

Bozo the clown has been part of Circus Circus cafe's identity for more than two decades, sitting just outside the front door.

But last night between 8pm and 11pm, someone apparently stole it.

Cafe owner Jonathan Rickard is shocked.

He says they've owned the cafe for 25 years and the clown's been part of the company's identify for decades.

They're offering a reward for its return, and police are investigating.

For more on this story, click here

That's the Front Page for today, Friday 27 March, making sure you're across the biggest news of the day. For more on these stories, check out The New Zealand Herald, or tune in to Newstalk ZB.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple podcasts here, iHeartRadio here, and Stitcher here.

If you like to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Juliette Sivertsen on Twitter.