GENEVA: Talks on forging a groundbreaking treaty to combat the scourge of plastic pollution were floundering Saturday (Aug 9), with progress slow and countries wildly at odds on what the proposed agreement should cover. The negotiations, which opened on Tuesday, have four working days left to strike a legally-binding instrument that would tackle the growing problem choking the environment. But in a blunt mid-way assessment, the talks chair warned the 184 countries gathered at the United Nations