Savannah Guthrie told the potential kidnappers of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, on Saturday that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return, as the frantic search for the 84-year-old entered a seventh day.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

It was not immediately clear whether the longtime host of NBC’s Today show was referring to a new message from someone who might have kidnapped Nancy Guthrie. The Associated Press reached out to the FBI and the Pima county sheriff’s department in Arizona seeking additional details.

Tucson TV station KOLD reported on Friday that it had received a message via email that was tied to the Guthrie case, the contents of which it could not disclose. The FBI said it was aware of a new message and was reviewing its authenticity.

Investigators think Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home just outside Tucson last weekend. DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her, Pima county sheriff Chris Nanos has said. Authorities have not identified any suspects or ruled anyone out.

The sheriff said Friday that he was frustrated that a camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home was not able to capture images of anyone the day she went missing.

Investigators have found that the home’s doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday and that software data recorded movement at the home minutes later. But Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so none of the images were able to be recovered.

The sheriff said Thursday that investigators have not given up on trying to retrieve camera recordings.

“I wish technology was as easy as we believe it is, that here’s a picture, here’s your bad guy. But it’s not,” Nanos told the AP. “There are pieces of information that come to us from these tech groups that say: ‘This is what we have and we can’t get anymore.’”

The sheriff also said he had no new information about the note to the TV station or other purported ransom letters sent to some media outlets, saying the FBI was handling that side of the investigation.

Meanwhile, concern about Nancy Guthrie’s health condition has grown because, authorities say, she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.

“Her conditions, I would imagine, are worsening day by day,” Nanos said. “She requires medication. And I have no way of knowing whether they’re getting that medication to her.”

Severe Tropical Cyclone Mitchell is expected to maintain its category 3 intensity as it barrels along the Pilbara coast before making landfall.

Located west of Karratha, the cyclone was about 30km offshore with 120km/h winds near the centre and gusts up to 165km/h on Sunday morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest track map.

“The expectation is that it will maintain its category 3 intensity as it moves south-west today, parallel to the Pilbara coast,” said senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury. Although the cyclone could intensify or even slow down slightly as it continues south-west over water.

The cyclone was expected to make landfall between Exmouth and Onslow late on Sunday evening or early Monday morning.

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A warning zone stretching from Karratha to Cape Cuvier, just north of Carnarvon, has been declared. Those areas were the most likely to see gale force or damaging winds, although very destructive wind gusts of up to 195km/h could develop as Mitchell’s core approaches the coast.

EmergencyWA has issued cyclone emergency warnings stretching from Whim Creek to Onslow, urging residents to shelter indoors.

Wind gusts of 169km/h were recorded at Legendre Island at 7pm Saturday, and 148km/h at Barrow Island on Sunday morning.

“It’s mostly the islands that are being caught at the moment, but we’ve still had 90–100km/h wind gusts on that coastal fringe too at places like Port Hedland and Karratha,” Bradbury said.

Widespread moderate to heavy rain, with the possibility of flash flooding was expected over the west Pilbara coast, along with abnormally high tides. Those hazards would extend to the Gascoyne region on Monday.

Karratha had recorded 67mm of rain since midnight.

“The rain comes in, our rivers start rising, and we’re likely to see impacts for roads, access routes, impacts for communities through those areas too,” Bradbury said.

Moisture streaming from the tropics, including from Tropical Cyclone Mitchell, was contributing to the risk of severe thunderstorms across central and south-eastern states, including parts of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and inland South Australia.

Bradbury said that was significant, because storms could bring rain to some very dry parts of the country.

On average, Australia experienced about 10 tropical cyclones each season, with 3 to 4 making landfall. This season, Mitchell has followed tropical cyclones Fina, Hayley, Koji and Luana in crossing the coast.

Fewer tropical cyclones were anticipated with a warming climate, but the proportion of severe events could increase, according to the national climate risk assessment.

Protesters planning to march through Sydney’s CBD during the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog’s visit are being urged to take an alternate route, as the Palestine Action Group prepares to challenge the premier’s use of special powers before the rally.

The acting assistant commissioner of New South Wales police, Paul Dunstan, told reporters on Sunday negotiations were continuing with Josh Lees, from the Palestine Action Group, over the location of Monday night’s march.

The group plans to march from the town hall to the state parliament, in a breach of the public assembly restriction declaration extended by police on Tuesday.

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The extension prevents the authorisation of protests under the form 1 system, effectively banning marches in designated areas without the risk of arrest. The current designated area includes the town hall and takes in the northern part of the CBD and the eastern suburbs, but excludes Hyde Park.

Dunstan urged the group to relocate to Hyde Park and march to Belmore Park instead, saying it would “safely facilitate a peaceful protest on the streets of Sydney”.

“I do have concerns about the size of town hall, and possibility of overflow into public areas, which could lead to conflict between police and protesters,” he said.

“For that reason, among many, I would ask them to consider relocating and to continue negotiating with us.”

Dunstan stressed Lees “went to great efforts to outline an intent and desire for a peaceful and safe protest”.

The premier, Chris Minns, said the alternate route “would have dramatically lowered tensions in the city”.

“It would have been a clear way of demonstrating that there’s protests that can take place … but also a respectful way of ensuring that those who are in the city, who are mourning after the worst terrorism event in the country’s history, won’t be subject to a confrontation on city streets,” he said at a seperate press conference on Sunday.

“So far, that opportunity hasn’t been taken up, but NSW police will continue to negotiate with the protest organisers right up until the last moment, and we hope that common sense prevails.”

Minns invoked the state’s “major event” legislation on Saturday, granting police additional powers to move people on, close specific locations and issue orders to prevent disruption or risks to public safety. Anyone who fails to comply with police directions may face penalties, including fines of up to $5,500.

Lees confirmed on Sunday the Palestine Action Group would urgently file proceedings in the NSW supreme court on Monday to challenge Minns’ use of the powers, which he said “threaten the civil liberties of everyone in NSW”.

“We are taking Chris Minns to court again. He has imposed sweeping search, exclusion and conduct restrictions across our city in an attempt to shut down dissent,” he said.

“The declaration gives police unprecedented authority across central Sydney for the duration of the visit, effectively criminalising political expression and assembly.

“These laws are designed to intimidate and deter people from speaking out against war crimes and injustice.

“Instead of defending human rights, the NSW government is using emergency-style powers to shield a visiting head of state from public scrutiny and accountability.”

A separate legal challenge by the group against NSW’s anti-protest laws, passed after the Bondi attack is also ongoing.

When asked about the possible challenge, Dunstan said it was a matter for the government, not the police.

He said more than 3,000 police officers would be deployed across Sydney during Herzog’s visit, with people to expect motorcades, clearway zones, and fencing and barriers to be up in the CBD over the next few days.

“With the tensions associated with this visit, you will see additional numbers, but people should feel confident to go about their business over the next few days as per normal,” Dunstan said.

He also advised that those planning to attend the city from 5.30pm onwards should be aware of the significant police operation and potential protest activity.

“We do not want conflict. We want to ensure that this is conducted in a peaceful and safe manner, and I’m confident that we can achieve that by working together with the Palestinian Action Group,” Dunstan said.

Minns urged “respect and calm as we get through the next four days”.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, invited Herzog after the 14 December antisemitic attack at Bondi, saying his visit was intended to foster “a greater sense of unity”. Major Jewish organisations and federal and state governments have welcomed Herzog’s visit as a moment of profound significance.

Other groups, including some Jewish Australian organisations, say the Israeli president should be barred from entering the country. They allege he incited genocide against Palestinians, pointing to a UN commission, which does not speak on behalf of the UN, which concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that Herzog, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, “have incited the commission of genocide”.

Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the commission’s report, calling it “distorted and false” and claiming it “relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods”.

Palestinian Australian Raneem Emad, who plans to protest against Herzog’s visit on Monday, said the visit felt “like a slap in the face”.

“So many of us have lost tens, if not dozens, of family members in Gaza, and no one understands that feeling like another Palestinian mother or someone else who has unfortunately had to face such traumatic loss,” she said.

The NSW government has announced a “crackdown” on illegally modified ebikes, with police to be given powers to seize and destroy any that exceed the legal speed limit.

The transport minister, John Graham, announced on Sunday that new seizure laws will be developed to allow police to seize any ebike that does not cut power assistance at 25km/h, with non-compliant bikes to be removed from the streets and crushed.

The laws will apply to all illegally modified bikes – even if the owner was unaware their ebike was noncompliant.

The government will also invest in a number of “dyno units” – portable speed-testing devices – to measure an ebike’s power output.

The move is an expansion on the state’s existing seizure laws, designed to remove high-powered cars and motorbikes from the road, which Graham said was a lengthy, complex process involving “a lot of paperwork” and “simply won’t work to get these electric motorcycles off our streets”.

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It follows an incident on Wednesday in which about 40 ebikes and e-motorcycles swarmed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Footage posted online also shows riders – including those on so-called fat bikes – travelling on the Western Distributor, and performing stunts.

The NRMA has called for strong action against illegal ebike and e-scooters and claimed that NSW faced a burgeoning “road safety disaster”. In 2024, there were 226 ebike-related injuries, while in the first seven months of 2025 there were 233 injuries and four deaths.

Peter Khoury, an NRMA spokesperson, welcomed Sunday’s annoucement.

“Its an expensive proposition to have the bike confiscated and crushed but paying for a funeral is more expensive,” he said.

Graham said the proposed laws were a direct response to community concern about “souped-up ebikes and the antisocial behaviour that seems to go hand in hand with them”.

“Riders and owners of illegal ebikes should now hear us loud and clear: if you are breaking the rules, and your bike does not meet the very clear specifications of a pedal-assisted ebike, expect it to be removed from your possession and crushed,” he said.

“Illegal bikes will end up as a twisted wreck so they can’t rejoin the road. We will ensure ebikes behave as bicycles, not motorbikes.”

Graham said the NSW government said Transport for NSW and NSW Police will develop the laws but will look to emulate those currently in place in Western Australia, where police have confiscated and crushed dozens of bikes.

“We are modelling our laws on the Western Australian model, what they allow is a far quicker process, far more streamlined process, police will find far easier to do,” he said.

“If you’re engaged in the sort of aggravated behaviour that we’ve seen on golf courses, across the Harbour Bridge, your bike will end up being crushed.”

He said the changes were the “start” of a broader package of reforms to ensure ebikes are “safe, legal and fit for use on public roads and paths”, with further measures to be announced in coming weeks. The NSW government had earlier committed to reducing the maximum legal power output of e-bikes to 250 watts, Graham said.

The roads minister, Jenny Aitchison, said it was a “crackdown, plain and simple” while police minister, Yasmin Catley, said the government was “drawing a line in the sand”.

“Illegal high-powered ebikes aren’t harmless fun and anyone thinking they can slip under the radar should take this as their final warning. If your bike does not meet the rules, it will be destroyed,” she said.

Catley said parents also had a role to ensure their kids were riding legal ebikes.

“If you buy or allow a child to ride a high-powered ebike that doesn’t meet the rules, you’re not just gambling with their safety, you’re gambling with the bike too and there will be no exceptions,” she said.

Natalie Ward, the deputy opposition leader and Coalition transport spokesperson, described the announcement as a “slow, reactive and bureaucracy-first approach” to a growing issue that did not address rider behaviour.

“Ebikes do not ride themselves,” she said. “The community wants accountability for rider behaviour and enforcement of the road rules.”

A Liberal government would “deliver licence plates, enforcement and accountability while Labor continues to tinker,” she said.