Wednesday's news in under 2 minutes.

1. The cause of Glee actor Cory Monteith‘s death has been revealed. The 31-year-old actor died of “a mixed-drug toxicity involving heroin and alcohol” according to The British Columbia Coroners Service. Monteith’s death was confirmed earlier this week after he was found in his hotel room on Saturday morning after failing to check out on time. “It should be noted that at this point there is no evidence to suggest Mr Monteith’s death was anything other than a most tragic accident,” the Coroner said.

2. Four asylum seekers have died and 144 have been rescued after their boat capsized near Christmas Island overnight. The total number of asylum seekers who have now died or disappeared, trying to make their way to Australia this year, stands at 220. Earlier this week a baby boy drowned in the waters around Christmas Island. The survivors of last night’s accident have now been taken to the island for processing.

3. Still no word on the Royal Baby. *Crickets*

4. A new survey from Westpac has revealed that boys tend to earn a higher weekly allowance from their parents than girls do, despite spending less time on their chores. The survey also found that boys save more money than girls.

Chores also tend to be divided along gender lines, with girls being assigned tasks like washing up and boys assigned tasks like mowing the lawn. Gai McGrath, Westpac’s retail banking general manager, told the Daily Telegraph: “Some chores tend to have a higher monetary value, like mowing the lawn… So maybe that is a good insight for girls – if mowing the lawn is more highly valued, maybe they might put their hands up to do it.”

5. A former teacher and head of a school in China – Australian man Hilton Reece Munro, 45 – has been charged with the alleged sexual abuse of four children. The children were reportedly aged as young as nine.

6. New South Wales and Queensland will play the deciding State of Origin match tonight.

7. Fairfax has reported that the deaths of two nurses working in Perth hospitals may have been the result of fatal drug overdoses from substances sourced in their workplaces. The coroner looking into the deaths will also be considering changes to access to drugs in hospitals, as recommended by a 2012 Crime and Corruption Commission report.

8. New austerity measures from the Government in Greece, implemented in order to keep receiving EU-IMF loans, have resulted in the fourth general strike in Greece this year.

9. President Ricardo Martinelli has said that Panama recently stopped a North Korean ship carrying missile material through the Panama Canal, sailing from Cuba. The President said, “The world needs to sit up and take note: you cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal.”