A species of frog believed to be the world's smallest has been discovered by an American team in Papua New Guinea. At a mere 7mm long, Paedophryne amauensis is also believed to be the world's smallest vertebrate. The frogs live on the forest floor amongst leaf litter, are well camouflaged, and have evolved calls similar to those made by insects. They are therefore extremely difficult to detect and capture. According to Research Leader Chris Austin "these things are incredibly small; so what we did after several frustrating attempts was to grab a whole handful of leaf litter and throw it inside a clear plastic bag."

Congratulations to the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), which has been granted full accreditation by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE). This standard has only been achieved by three other educational institutions for the veterinary sector and means that the RVC is the only veterinary sector educational institution in the world to have achieved full accreditation by both the EAVE and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA).

Andrew Crook, Senior Anatomy Technician at the Royal Veterinary College, has been awarded an MBE for services to veterinary science after many years of distinguished service. MRCVS.co.uk would like to extend our congratulations. "It's exciting," he said. "My colleagues are telling everyone and my friends and family are very excited. I do a lot of work encouraging young people from diverse backgrounds to think about veterinary medicine as a career. We're often seen as a place where only the rich people go and that's not true anymore. We have local schools, often from poorer areas, in and do a lot of live animal work - looking at horses, cows and dogs, and quite often the children have never seen a live cow up-close."

A free copy of the 2012 NOAH Compendium of Data Sheets for Animal Medicines is being sent to every veterinary practice in the UK. This edition has a specially redesigned cover to reflect NOAH's 25th anniversary. It also includes data sheets compiled from 32 companies organised by colour-coded index and an up-to-date edition of NOAH's Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines. If your practice has not received its copy, contact Ruth Herbert at NOAH (r.herbert@noah.co.uk ). Extra copies are also available to order now for 42. Special prices are available for bulk orders.

The BSAVA Postgraduate Certificate website has now gone live. The online materials and activities which support the BSAVA postgraduate certificates are all to be found here, and students enrolled on the programmes will find it invaluable. There are also sections of the site specifically for those who have agreed to act as mentors for students enrolled on the programme, and exclusive material for BSAVA members who missed out on enrolment in 2012, but have pre-enrolled for 2013. All sections are password protected. The BSAVA Postgraduate Certificate website may found be here.

The RCVS has dismissed a case against a Nottinghamshire vet, having found insufficient evidence to suggest that Dr Gary Samuel was guilty of breaching the Rules of Racing of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. In a case brought against him in October 2009, Dr Samuel was disqualified indefinitely from holding a GBGB licence, fined £2500 and referred to the College. Following the re-scheduled hearing on 17th November 2011, the charge was found to be "not proved".