Here are the leading news stories about Vietnam you should not miss today, August 21

Society

-- Forest rangers of Yok Don National Park, an iconic wildlife reserve in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, are tracking and chasing away a herd of around 20 wild elephants which had wreaked havoc on locals’ fields in Buon Don District in the past few days, according to the park management.

-- The Andrology and Fertility Hospital of Hanoi announced on Saturday that they had helped a single 58-year-old woman deliver a healthy 3.2kg baby son conceived thanks to in vitro fertilization. The new mother, whose menstrual periods stopped permanently three years ago, is the oldest woman to get pregnant in the country so far.

-- The People’s Committee of the central province of Quang Ngai has instructed that sand mining activity conducted by a local company on a section of the province’s signature Tra Khuc River be ceased. Local residents had earlier stopped the company’s trucks over concerns that its rampant sand exploitation has caused changes in the water flow and posed risks to the neighborhood in the coming flooding season. -- After returning to their home country from the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, most people of Vietnamese origin currently residing in the border areas in the Mekong Delta province of Long An have encountered numerous difficulties due to a lack of identification papers.  

-- As of Saturday afternoon, Tropical Storm Dianmu has left nine dead and three others missing in several northern provinces following its landfall on Friday afternoon. The storm, which has triggered downpours, landslides and flashfloods, has also caused serious damage to residents’ homes, crops, cattle and poultry, the Control and National Committee for Search and Rescue has reported.

Business

-- Many shoppers have complained about overwhelming troubles incurred including late deliveries, refunds and inadequate feedback and customer care when they do transactions with online shops, including well-known ones. -- Foreign experts at an international sugarcane conference held on Friday stressed that close liaison between the government, enterprises and farmers is integral to the sustainable growth of Vietnam’s sugarcane industry, which  is struggling not only to maintain itself in the competition against imported sugar, but also to combat the negative effects of climate change.

Education

-- Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, GreenFeed Vietnam Co. and local authorities in the south-central Vietnamese province of Binh Dinh on Saturday jointly offered no-interest bank loans and awards to 60 needy farmer households in Phu My and Hoai Nhon Districts to assist them in supporting their children’s education.