The Palestinian Authority is ready to govern its own country, a United Nations report said on Tuesday, paving the way for the general assembly to declare an independent state later this year. It said that the Palestinians had made significant advances in education, health and infrastructure policies and in areas of law and human rights. However, the report said that the authority was held back because of the continued Israeli occupation of much of the West Bank and a breakdown in Middle East peace talks. “Measures of occupation which stifle Palestinian life need to be fundamentally rolled back by more far reaching Israeli actions to match the progress of the state-building programme,” the report said. President Barack Obama's U.S.-led peace talks and UN state building efforts – centered on Tony Blair's office – are due to expire in September. Palestinian leaders aim then to ask the United Nations General Assembly for recognition of statehood on all of the territory Israel occupied in 1967, including Gaza, a move the assembly is expected to approve.