Montevideo is currently 9°C (49°F), feeling like 6°C (43°F), under overcast skies with winds of 16 km/h (10 mph). Today's high reached just 10°C (50°F), and tonight will dip to 7°C (44°F) — one of the coldest nights of this winter stretch.

Wednesday will warm noticeably, with a high of 15°C (58°F) and light drizzle expected. But Thursday brings the traditional Santa Rosa storm: forecasters are calling for thunderstorms and 6.7 mm of rain in Montevideo, with Punta del Este bracing for up to 27 mm. Highs will stay around 13°C (56°F) in the capital before skies clear Friday and the weekend stays overcast but dry, with temperatures in the low teens.

The Santa Rosa storm is an annual late-winter phenomenon, occurring between Aug. 20 and Sept. 20, when warm spring air clashes with Antarctic cold fronts. This year it arrives right on schedule, close to the Aug. 30 feast day.

Four men armed with shotguns and 9 mm pistols stormed the Banco República branch on General Artigas and Solís in Pando on Monday at around 5:50 p.m., just before closing. They hit a security guard on the head, threatened staff and made off with what police estimate to be US$70,000 in dollars, €90,000 in euros and about $10 million in pesos — though BROU has not yet confirmed the total.

The gang fled in a Mercedes-Benz but crashed in Barros Blancos. They broke a window of a nearby house and held the family at gunpoint, demanding car keys, but failed to take that vehicle. They then hijacked a passing pickup truck carrying four people at gunpoint and disappeared. Police deployed a helicopter and are reviewing security footage that captured one robber's face uncovered.

AEBU, the banking union, called for more security resources after the heist. President Yamandú Orsi said this morning the robbery "is not a new pattern" and expressed full confidence in Interior Minister Nicolás Martinelli, who is under fire from the opposition over recent crime.

President Yamandú Orsi said today in Florida that he will meet with leaders of Uruguay's political parties in the coming days, citing "a complex international situation." He did not specify which issues prompted the call but said "it is good to have dialogue" and stressed the importance of cross-party cooperation.

The announcement comes as Orsi's government grapples with several challenges: disapproval ratings hit 57% in the latest Opción poll, up from 48% last quarter, while only 19% approve. The peso remains strong, hurting export competitiveness, and growth is forecast to slow to 1.8% this year. Regional politics are shifting rightward, and renewed U.S. assertiveness in Latin America is testing the left-leaning Frente Amplio government's foreign policy.

Such multi-party meetings are customary in Uruguay when a president faces major decisions or crises. Orsi took office in March 2025 promising continuity of Uruguay's democratic traditions; his willingness to consult the opposition reflects the country's culture of consensus-building across the aisle.

American Airlines will restart its seasonal Montevideo–Miami service on Dec. 3, 2026, operating daily until March 2, 2027 — three weeks longer than last season's daily stretch, which ended Feb. 11. After March 2, the Boeing 787-8 will fly three times a week (Monday, Thursday, Saturday) until March 28, when the season ends.

Flights depart Miami at 10:55 p.m., arriving in Montevideo at 10:10 a.m. the next day. The return leaves Carrasco at 10:30 p.m., landing in Miami at 5:45 a.m. The 234-seat Dreamliner is configured with 20 Business, 28 Premium Economy and 186 main-cabin seats. American is the only carrier offering nonstop service between Uruguay and the United States.

Miami is American's main international hub, with over 400 daily flights in peak season connecting to more than 200 destinations across the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Caribbean.

Deputy Foreign Minister Valeria Csukasi said last week that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to visit Uruguay, the country would be "obliged by its commitments to the International Criminal Court to enforce" the arrest warrant issued against him. "That is indiscutible," she told the Al Weso streaming show, adding that Netanyahu is unlikely ever to come.

Israel's embassy in Montevideo filed a verbal protest with the Foreign Ministry over Csukasi's remarks and her criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, where she said there has been "excessive use of force" and "crimes against civilians, particularly children." Csukasi clarified she was stating the government's official position, not her personal view, and reiterated that Uruguay does not classify the Gaza campaign as genocide because "not all the criteria of the genocide convention are met."

President Orsi said today in Florida that "on something that is not a fact, one must avoid any opinion" — a veiled rebuke. Csukasi's comments have generated internal tension within the Frente Amplio, where some factions favor a tougher stance on Israel.

The municipal workers' union in Salto has come out against the departmental government's plan to privatize waste collection and contract the sanitary closure of the current open-air landfill. The intendencia presented a Waste Management Plan to the departmental assembly that would license out both services for up to 12 years, arguing the city lacks the technical capacity and equipment to meet environmental standards.

Union leaders say the municipality should invest in its own operations rather than hand the work to a private firm, and they question whether Salto can properly oversee contractor compliance. The plan is part of a broader push to modernize waste disposal across Uruguay, where only two of 22 major landfills meet sanitary-landfill standards, one of them Montevideo's.

Salto's plan calls for replacing the open-air dump with controlled cells, a shift several other departments have already made. Supporters argue private operators bring specialized expertise; critics worry about job losses and accountability.