Campaigning by both sides was vigorous

England have

Australians have rejected a proposal to break ties with the British monarchy and become a republic.

In the landmark referendum to decide whether Australia would replace Queen Elizabeth with a president, the "no" votes led 54.87% to 45.13% in the final count.

All six states voted against the proposal, Victoria by the narrowest margin of 50.16% to 49.84%.

Any change needed the backing of an overall majority of the country's 12 million voters as well as a majority of the states.

The result was greeted by wild cheering at a monarchist campaign rally in Sydney's Darling Harbour, where 200 people popped champagne corks in celebration.

Prime Minister John Howard said the Australian people had clearly rejected the republic proposal.

"The government will now turn its attentions to those things which directly affect the lives of Australians," he said.

But opposition leader Kim Beazley promised to keep the republic issue alive.

"The referendum was quite clearly lost because of the way it was set up, setting up one form of republic against the other," he said.

"Nothing will ever kill off the republican movement. Nothing will kill it until it succeeds."

Under the republican proposal, a president would have been elected by members of both houses of parliament, and not in a direct election.

A widespread distrust of politicians - as much as strong pro-monarchist sentiment - was seen as fuelling the rejection of a republic.    

The next major task will be to clear the canal of sunken ships

This evening, an official statement said Port Said was in allied hands and the town had suffered little damage.

There was a sense of relief at the United Nations headquarters in New York as the Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold announced the allies had accepted the terms of the UN ceasefire and had ordered troops to stop fighting.

The Israelis have also announced a ceasefire in the Sinai.

At dawn today, French commandos sent over from Cyprus landed at Port Fuad and advanced south along the banks of the Suez Canal.

Yesterday, three British Royal Marine Commandos, were brought into Port Said by naval helicopter.

They captured Gamil airfield after what Sir Charles Keightley, the allied commander-in-chief described as "some very tough fighting" with Egyptian troops armed with guns, mortars and tanks.

Allied casualties are reported to be light with 30 members of the 16th Parachute Brigade injured. Some 70 Egyptians soldiers have been killed.

Last week, the Soviet leader Nikolai Bulganin proposed sending his troops to the Middle East to restore peace to the region.

The suggestion was rejected in a statement issued by the White House as "unthinkable" and "an obvious attempt to divert world attention from the Hungarian tragedy".

The next major task for the allies is to restore order to the two ports and to clear the entrance to Suez Canal currently blocked by ships sunk by the Egyptians.

The canal was nationalised on 26 July by President Abdel Nasser after the US turned down a previous offer to fund a new dam at Aswan.

The move outraged the canal's Anglo-French owners as well as the British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, who has compared President Nasser to Adolf Hitler.

The present military action began on 29 October, when Israel invaded the Sinai.

British and French planes entered the fray two days later after President Nasser refused their offer of creating a buffer zone between Israel and Egypt.

They began by destroying most of the Egyptian air force on the ground. 

referendum: a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate（公民投票）