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The article reports on the continued widespread interest of British people on the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) since mid-1990s, making the British Basketball League experienced struggles to establish itself for lack of promotional coverages.

MANCHESTER, England -- The sign said ''Old Trafford welcomes supporters of Manchester City,'' but in the stadium, it did not feel that way. The City supporters in blue trying to get into the east stand of Manchester United's stadium before Sunday's game were separated by a wall of security and horse-mounted police before being greeted by sniffing dogs and airport-style pat-downs. Still, their spirits were high. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHORLEY, England -- The practice session began as it would for most soccer players across England, with a juggling drill. In a small circle, they kept the ball in the air, passing it to one another. For Bolton Wanderers, an English Premier League team, there was a playfully cruel twist to the game: the first man to let the ball touch the ground would have his ears flicked by every member of the team. Some of the flicks were so loud they could be heard across the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHORLEY, England -- The practice session began as it would for most soccer players across England, with a juggling drill. In a small circle, they kept the ball in the air, passing it to one another. For Bolton Wanderers, an English Premier League team, there was a playfully cruel twist to the game: the first man to let the ball touch the ground would have his ears flicked by every member of the team. Some of the flicks were so loud they could be heard across the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE hordes of shoppers lining up for the Uniqlo's+J collection in SoHo last month probably didn't notice the store: the futuristic clean lines, steel railings, opaque glass stairs. And that's the way Masamichi Katayama, the cult designer behind this mass-market fashion temple, likes it. Mr. Katayama is the founder of Wonderwall, a Tokyo design firm that has made some of that city's most blogged-about spaces, including shops for Godiva, Nike and A Bathing Ape. For the Godiva flagship in the Harajuku district, he created a playful ceiling that looked like melting chocolate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

''It's Baltimore, gentlemen. The gods will not save you,'' the police commissioner told his demoralized officers in an episode of ''The Wire.'' Some local residents are electing to save themselves. An area called Station North, in a cluster of streets within walking distance of the city's lovely Beaux-Arts railway hub, Penn Station, was named one of Maryland's first officially designated arts districts in 2001. But it's the small businesses that have opened since -- galleries, restaurants and theaters -- that are really transforming the area. KABIR CHIBBER TAPAS TEATRO 1711 North Charles Street (410) 332-0110 tapasteatro.com [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WALKING down the southern end of Mott Street -- a stretch lined with cheap-toy traps and Chinese restaurants of varying quality -- is a fairly unremarkable experience until the sidewalk is suddenly packed with grungy and very loud teenagers and young adults loitering in front of a prominent ''No Loitering'' sign. The tourists who make it this far -- almost to Chatham Square -- will find themselves tiptoeing around the pierced and the eyelinered, around the goths and the hip-hoppers. The biggest of the group turns to his friend and says, ''He literally picks up his own life bar and beats you to death with it, son!'' Around here, the talk inevitably turns to games. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WAN CHAI used to be best known among foreigners as an area crowded with seedy bars and massage parlors, but it remained popular for locals, filled with historic tenement blocks, old-fashioned street markets by day and youngsters shooting hoops after school. Now, the Hong Kong neighborhood is thriving, as a nascent cultural scene emerges and as young creative types and entrepreneurs alike are being lured by cheaper rents. At the forefront of this revival is the Pawn (62 Johnston Road; 852-2866-3444; thepawn.com.hk), a gastropub, housed in a renovated three-story colonial building dating back to 1888. The Pawn is a bit of an oddity in a city where buildings rarely last more than a decade. The site once held a pawnshop, and the pub has kept the iconic chess piece -- an image still found outside pawnshops across the city -- as its logo since it reopened in 2008. Diners can now sample modern British classics in the dining room and on a deservedly beloved roof garden. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

INDIA is modernizing rapidly, sometimes too fast. You have giant malls, but grandmothers afraid to use the escalators. There are villages in the middle of nowhere, with ornate temples soaring into the hot sky. Still, old Rajasthan endures, evoking rulers with giant mustaches, harems of beautiful women in the finest colored silks and some of the most spectacular palaces ever built. They can be found in the state's three biggest cities: Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur. Friday [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

COPENHAGEN has two faces. One has regal architecture, populated with elegantly dressed bicyclists and citizens so polite they wait patiently for the light to turn green before crossing empty streets. But along its eastern coast, just across the Knippels Bridge, is its grubby alter ego, Christianshavn -- a tiny island lined with brick warehouses. It is also home to Freetown Christiania, a kind of hippie commune formed in 1971 after squatters took over abandoned military barracks and proclaimed themselves an autonomous neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wembley Stadium is usually the stage for some of the most glamorous names in soccer, yet 26,000 spectators were there in May, most of them clad in red and white to support tiny Ebbsfleet United in a cup final match against Torquay United. It was an incredible turnout for such a small team, considering that many had never heard of it until a few months earlier, when they got together over the Internet and decided to buy it. Watching from the stands was Will Brooks, the architect of one of the world's most unusual sports experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Milan, choosing where to eat can be a lot like finding the right table in high school: it's daunting. Foreigners are stuck in tourist traps, the cool kids fit in their skinny jeans by eating the nibbles at the achingly trendy bars, and the fashion crowd can usually be found at the local Nobu, thoughtfully situated in Giorgio Armani's megastore. But then there's Princi. This chic bakery is dedicated to high-quality fresh bread using traditional recipes, made with organic wholemeal flour and baked throughout the day in a beech-fired oven. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE glitz may have migrated to the French Riviera, but Biarritz doesn't need it. The posh seaside town in southwest France is enjoying a renaissance, as people discover the appeal of this aristocratic resort on the Bay of Biscay where worlds collide and expectations are upended. Once the reigning vacation spot for Europe's noble and gentry classes, Biarritz's golden shores are now shared by everyone from bronze beauties in designer sandals to drop-out surfers in frayed flip-flops. Even the languages are mixed up. Walk into any of the town's creaky old bars, and the patrons might strike up a conservation by saying a few words in rapid-fire French, Spanish, English or even Basque, the local language that, like the resort, is in a class by itself. Friday [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Amsterdam is the antithesis of one-stop shopping. The city is full of places, one after the other, that only sell a particular item, from antique light fittings to used sewing machines. Amsterdam, the Dutch capital, revels in the joy of random discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports on the decline in the stock trading performance of airlines and automobile makers on the European financial markets on May 24, 2005.