Body of British hiker missing since New Year’s Day found in northern Italy, Italy marks Republic Day with free entry to state-owned museums, and more news on Monday.

Body of British hiker missing since New Year’s Day found in northern Italy

The body of a British hiker missing in northern Italy’s Dolomites since New Year’s Day has been found, Italian media reported on Saturday. 

Aziz Ziriat, 36, from London, was found under a layer of snow in a rocky crevice at the foot of the Carè Alto mountain, Trentino Alto Adige’s alpine and speleological rescue team said.

Ziriat and a friend, Sam Harris, 35, went missing on January 1st while hiking in the Adamello Natural Park – one of the largest nature reserves in the Italian Alps.

Harris’s body was found in a mountain pass at around 2,600 metres of altitude on January 8th, two days after the pair were due to return to London.

Ziriat’s body was discovered about one kilometre away from Harris’s location on Saturday morning, rescuers said.

Following the discovery, Ziriat’s remains were airlifted to the nearby town of Spiazzo, Val Rendena.

The rescue team said his family had been informed of the discovery.

Ziriat’s girlfriend, Rebecca Dimmock, told the BBC in January that the pair were “experienced hikers”. 

“They wanted to go from hut to hut throughout the Dolomites” and were “planning on going off-grid,” she added.

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The dynamics of the accident were still unclear as of Monday morning.

The hikers’ last known location was the Casina Dosson mountain hut, close to the town of Tione Di Trento, according to British news reports.

Italy marks Republic Day with free entry to state-owned museums

People in Italy will be granted free access to dozens of state-owned museums and cultural sites on Monday as part of celebrations for the Republic Day public holiday.

Celebrated every year on June 2nd, Italy’s Republic Day (or Festa della Repubblica) commemorates the birth of the Italian Republic as we know it today.

It marks the date in 1946 when Italians voted in a referendum to abolish the unpopular, Fascist-aligned monarchy and establish a democratic republic.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What’s the history behind Italy’s Republic Day?

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Italy’s culture ministry announced last week that it would mark the June 2nd holiday by opening the country’s state-owned museums and archaeological parks free of charge. 

These include some of Italy’s best-known cultural attractions – from Rome’s Colosseum to Florence’s Uffizi Gallery and Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera.

The Italian culture ministry noted on its website that all involved cultural sites will open according to their normal opening hours on Monday. 

Advance booking may be required for some of the sites, it added.

Thousands march in Rome against government’s security clampdown

Thousands of demonstrators marched through Rome on Saturday in protest against a contested security decree passed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government.

The new rules, which strengthen protections for police officers accused of violence and increase sentences for unauthorised public protests and squatting, have been regarded by critics as an indiscriminate attack on democratic rights, including freedom of expression and assembly.

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“We consider this law the biggest attack on freedom to dissent in the history of the Italian republic,” Cesare Antetomaso, a member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, told AFP.

Under the new decree, police officers facing charges over alleged acts of violence committed while on duty will be eligible for €10,000 in legal aid.

Illegal squatters will also face faster eviction procedures, while road blockades performed during protests – formerly considered an administrative offence – will now carry jail terms of up to two years.

Following its approval in the lower house of parliament on Thursday, the security decree is expected to be ratified by the Senate – where the ruling coalition has a comfortable majority – this week.

Despite growing cries of outrage from centre-left opposition forces and trade unions, members of Meloni’s government have defended the new rules in recent days.

“Order, security and legality are at the heart of the government’s actions,” Carolina Varchi, an MP from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, said on Friday.

“Challenging this decree means turning one’s back on the demand for security that comes from citizens,” she added.

With reporting from AFP.