About the choice of base locations: my first picks are always Europe and USA. That way my radars cover most of the best paying countries. My third base should cover Japan, which is usually the second biggest sponsor after the USA.
I'm not sure (it's been a while since I played UFO) but I think researching heavy plasma and everything it leads to (like plasma defense and any new research items that show up after you've finished researching heavy plasma) should allow you to research Fusion balls.
And yes, build small and large radars in each base at first, then switch to hyperwave decoders once you've got access to those.
Last time I played I had "excellent" rating virtually every month (with the exception of perhaps the first two months), though that was at an easy level.
Like R Havell said, down every ufo you can take on, finish as many missions as possible. And don't ignore terror sites! It's been said 100 times here, but I'll still repeat it: even touching down and taking off again is a lot better than simply ignoring a terror site.
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A sickened, sensitive shadow writhing in hands that are not hands, and whirled blindly past ghastly midnights of rotting creation (Nyarlathotep, H.P. Lovecraft)
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