Nostalgia and concerns about the environment and congestion have made updated versions of the VW Beetle, BMW Mini and, most recently, Fiat 500 popular
By Giles Smith
The Fiat 500 is European Car of the Year 2008, and little wonder. It is smart, sassy and, for what is basically a small, soft blob of metal, enormously covetable. But it is also, essentially, half a century old. The first 500 rolled out of Italian factories in 1957 - a comically diminutive, rear-engined buzz-about, generally regarded as the first ever "city car." By the time production ceased in 1975, the "Cinquecento" was looking tired, flat and, in the world of battleships like the Ford Granada, increasingly likely to get run over. For a good 40 years, the 500 was destined to have a limited appeal beyond enthusiasts and people with a strong sense of irony.

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Cambodia's Mekong River dolphins were heading for extinction until 'river guards' convinced local fishermen that the mammals are more profitable alive
By Seth Meixner
The absence of fishing boats on this stretch of the Mekong River, just a few kilometers north of the eastern Cambodian town of Kratie, means military policeman Em Pheap is doing his job.

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