◢ A French court on Friday fined oil giant Total EUR 500,000 for corruption after finding it guilty of paying bribes while bidding for a huge gas contract in Iran in 1997. The French company was accused of paying USD 30 million in bribes to middlemen, in return for help in securing the lucrative South Pars gas concession. In 2013 the company paid USD 398 million in the US to settle a similar case before it went to trial.