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LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - British online fashion retailer ASOS reported an 89% drop in 2021-22 profit and forecast a first half loss in its new financial year, blaming significant volatility in the macroeconomic environment.

The group, whose shares have fallen 80% this year, made adjusted profit before tax of 22 million pounds ($24.9 million)in the year to August 31 2022, in line with guidance that was lowered last month and down from the pandemic boosted 193.6 million pounds made in 2020-21.

SA Police have confirmed to NCA NeswsWire that officers and paramedics were called to the scene at Paralowie, about 21km north of Adelaide's CBD, about 9am Sunday to reports of a possible drowning in the Little Para River.

SHANGHAI, Sept 16 (Reuters) - China's stock benchmarks dropped over 1% on Thursday, with property and banking stocks leading the slide on fears that debt-ridden developer China Evergrande Group's financial troubles would trigger a broad contagion.

** With Beijing prioritising "Common Prosperity" over freewheeling economic growth, "the investment lens through which global investors evaluate opportunities in China has changed and the strategies deployed towards investing in the Middle Kingdom need to adapt accordingly," wrote Norman Vilamin, CIO of Wealth Management at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP).

They know that it's more of an exercise in damage limitation, of salvaging what they can from the wreckage and regrouping and rebuilding while the next lot inevitably smash up the metaphorical playground after they win power.

Politically speaking, the Tory party is Italy: a rag-tag grouping of warring factions so busy arguing and briefing against each other I wouldn't trust them to agree what day of the week it is, let alone reach a consensus on electing a new leader. People keep talking about Britain heading the same way as Greece or Italy.

But we're already there.

The Conservatives have simply run out of road. The next election is only a couple of years or so away. And much of that time is going to be dominated by soaring living costs and struggling markets, even before you've factored in a potential resurgence of Covid, more threats from Vladimir Putin and whatever other curve balls the universe has in store for us in these turbulent times.

She hasn't just made a fool of herself: she's made fools of all those who voted Conservative at the last election. In a few short weeks, she has turned the party of Churchill and Thatcher into a laughing stock — and pretty much guaranteed a Labour landslide at the next election.

Ron DeSantis played a shocking video at the start of his press conference on Wednesday containing sexually explicit content, illustrated and detailed in children's books at various Florida school libraries.

Everyone — from Rishi Sunak to Penny Mordaunt to Ben Wallace — represents a red line to someone. That's just pie in the sky. And that's because the Tory party, in its current incarnation, isn't really a single party at all, but an uneasy alliance of ideological fiefdoms.

Besides, Sunak was the runner-up in the original contest that gave us Truss. He lost the final membership vote, of course — but he won the MPs' ballot by 137 to 113.

And since the one thing on which everyone seems to agree is that nobody wants another contest, it stands to reason he has a strong claim.

Wise Tory heads know this. They know that the next two years are not really about delivering on manifesto commitments and preparing to fight an election in the hope of winning a fifth term — although they will of course go through the motions.

Politics is a nasty business at the best of times, ruthless when the going gets tough. She's already shot to pieces, her colleagues will have reasoned, so she might as well provide cover until they figure out what to do next.

So really, it doesn't matter who replaces Truss. If you've already written off the car, why go to the effort of changing a tyre? The party is so far out of whack, so far gone in terms of credibility, he or she is doomed to failure.

And if that's the case, then why bother?

If it were up to me, I'd choose Rishi Sunak. Not because I think he's the best man for the job (or because my ex-husband has told me to: strange as it may seem, I do occasionally have opinions of my own).

It's because he's the one who got us into this mess in the first place by pushing out Boris.

But having him take over as Chancellor is a bit like ordering rump steak on your Ocado shop and finding they've substituted it with a tofu burger. I know Jeremy a bit, and despite what people say, he's not a bad egg.

Trouble is, it doesn't look like they can even manage that.

Every MP and minister I speak to is racked with indecision, partly because they are in something like a state of shock — but mostly because they are searching for a solution that doesn't exist.

Italy, of course, has practically had a new leader each year since World War II. The Tories are fast catching up.

But even assuming by some miracle that they could agree on someone, it wouldn't help in the wider country. And that's because, understandably, people want what they voted for. Which, let's be honest, was not this.