内容摘要：The consequences of that might not always be enormous but with a project of this size and complexity, the shadowboxing can cost the taxpayer billions.

The consequences of that might not always be enormous but with a project of this size and complexity, the shadowboxing can cost the taxpayer billions.

to build a dual carriageway between Gloucester and Cirencester.The closure means locals are using the busy Birdlip junction on the A417 for the most direct route to Cirencester, which involves crossing both lanes of traffic.

National Highways said it "understands the concerns of the residents" and that work was being phased "very carefully to minimise the impact on local communities and motorists".Martin Smith, who has lived in Brimpsfield for nearly 50 years, said there are "deaths and accidents regularly" on the junction.He explained drivers end up waiting at the junction for a gap to appear.

"If a lorry is coming it's probably doing 30 or so miles an hour, but motor cars they can sometimes be going 60 or 70," he said."Very recently I was at that junction, taking two of my family to Kemble and a car came over the top and I thought, I've got plenty of time. But then I thought, No, I haven't and the car hit me up the backside while waiting to join the main road, so it is a notorious junction," Mr Smith added.

He said "on the positive side", rat running through the village "is probably going to come to an end, when the missing link is done".

Another resident, Patrick Daley, said it was "a terrible junction".But many observers believe there is a danger that Sudan will drift into de-facto partition, with the two warring parties and their backers entrenching themselves in their zones of influence.

The RSF is working to set up a parallel government in areas it controls, gathering allied groups to sign a political charter and constitution last month in Nairobi.Its intention was to show that despite battlefield setbacks, it remains a potent force - and that its desire to take control of the country remains undimmed.

Sudan's people have borne the brunt of this brutal civil war, which has inflicted massive death, destruction, and human rights violations on civilians.The United Nations has described the situation in the country as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. More than 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes and millions face acute food shortages, with parts of the country driven into famine.