France won an international competition today to be the site of the world's first nuclear fusion reactor, an estimated $12 billion project that many scientists see as essential to solving the world's future energy needs.
China's top arms-control negotiator, reiterating the country's opposition to American development of a national missile-defense system or a smaller "theater" system in Asia, said today that China was willing to discuss the proposed antimissile shields with the United States in order to "narrow our differences."