TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday proposed a “reset” to mend relations with the United States, Interpress news agency reported, after Washington paused more than $95 million in aid over concerns about democratic backsliding.

Georgia was plunged into crisis this spring over the passage of a law on “foreign agents,” which came into force on Thursday.

Opposition politicians and the West say the law, which requires organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence”, is authoritarian and will stifle dissent.

“As for Georgian-American relations – we are in a waiting mode. We are fully prepared to reset relationships,” Interpress quoted Kobakhidze as saying.

“You know that in the last three to four years, a lot has gone wrong in these relationships, so the relationship needs a reset. We are absolutely ready for it, the main thing is to see the next steps,” he added.

The ruling Georgian Dream party says the “foreign agents” law is necessary to protect national sovereignty.

The pause on U.S. assistance, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday, is the result of a review of bilateral cooperation that was unveiled in May, along with visa restrictions against some Georgian nationals.

“The Georgian government’s anti-democratic actions and false statements are incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO,” Blinken said, adding that Washington would continue to provide some assistance to Georgia, which has historically strong ties to the West.

Kobakhidze on Thursday reiterated government assertions that such restrictions amounted to “blackmail” and discussing additional sanctions against Georgia was “counterproductive”.

“Instead of blackmailing and threatening, we should have a healthy conversation about improving relations, restarting them,” Kobakhidze said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Giles Elgood)

GREENWOOD, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – An Upstate family experienced a rare and unexpected sighting during a recent trip to Georgia, making the vacation stand out (and up!) above the rest.

“Now we have another new species on the island which is really cool,” amateur naturalist Joshua Wicker said.

When Joshua Wicker and his family visited St. Simons Island a few weeks ago, they were tickled pink by what they saw.

“They’re up on a big marsh on the inside of the island, and it was just like, ‘Oh there it is!’”

During the trip, Wicker spotted five flamingos hanging out in the water.

“This shouldn’t be happening right now. This is Georgia,” Wicker thought when he first saw them.

St. Simons Island sits just off the coast between Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL. It’s also hundreds of miles away from the flamingos’ natural habitat.

“You can find them more frequently on the Caribbean Islands and sometimes on the tip of Florida, so you can find them in North American; but they just don’t come north very often,” John Quinn, Director of Environmental Studies at Furman University, said.

The journey to Georgia for these 4 to 8 pound birds is ‘flamazing!’

“It could have been a strong storm this summer. Maybe they were caught in a current blown around or something like that. They do get blown around by certain weather events,” Quinn added.

Last year, Hurricane Idalia flung flamingos around the East Coast, landing as far north as Pennsylvania. But experts say this is the first time there has been a recorded sighting in Georgia.

“It’s a new experience of type of birds you’ve never seen,” Rey Wicker, 12, said.

Rey Wicker, Joshua Wicker’s daughter, believes no matter how they got here, these birds have a leg up on all the rest.

“Cause they’re pink!” Rey Wicker said with excitement.

If you’re interested in learning more about wildlife in the area, Joshua Wicker offers entertaining and educational videos on his page, Y’all, Be Looking!

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Severe thunderstorms across the Southeast United States on Tuesday have led to dangerous conditions in Georgia and South Carolina.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a hazardous weather outlook on Wednesday for parts of north and central Georgia, and the agency warned that a line of thunderstorms from Tuesday is continuing to move southward through the state, and scattered thunderstorms are expected across the entire region.

“Similar to what occurred yesterday, a line of thunderstorms may develop in the evening, possibly persisting into the overnight hours,” the NWS said.

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The announcement came after Tuesday’s storms left extensive power outages, significant damage and claimed one life in the state.

The NWS previously issued a severe thunderstorm warning for several areas across Georgia, as well as warnings about wind and hail.

According to the Associated Press (AP), citing Georgia’s Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, a 27-year-old man lost his life in Cherokee County when a tree fell onto his moving car late Tuesday. The incident occurred on a residential road northwest of Atlanta.

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Additionally, the storm wreaked havoc on the power grid with outages affecting hundreds of thousands across southeastern Tennessee and northern Georgia.

By Wednesday morning, power had been restored to many, but approximately 30,000 customers remained without electricity, particularly around Ellijay in the North Georgia mountains, the AP reported.

The power outages are the latest caused by the storms as Georgia Emergency Management Agency Director in Hall County Zack Brackett said there were continuous reports of blocked roads and ongoing cleanup efforts from Tuesday’s storm into early morning hours on Wednesday.

“Crews have worked tirelessly overnight to clear the majority of main roads and are now focusing on secondary roads,” Brackett said in a press release.

The area in Georgia also saw residential damage, with at least one house in Gainesville hit by falling trees, the AP reported.

Newsweek reached out to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency via email on Wednesday for comment.

In Orangeburg, South Carolina, the city’s downtown district also suffered significant damage from straight-line winds as metal roofing and wooden awnings were torn from buildings, prompting city officials to begin extensive cleanup efforts, according to the AP.

Newsweek reached out to the South Carolina Emergency Management Agency via email for comment.

The NWS had previously issued a severe thunderstorm warning for several areas of South Carolina including Newberry, Whitmire and Prosperity.

The NWS has also confirmed that a weak tornado touched down in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Monday, which reportedly impacted parts of the Middle Tennessee State University campus. The tornado, with winds up to 75 mph, caused minor damage to the football stadium and uprooted trees, though no injuries were reported.