A colleague at my university alerts me to the “BOB” awards just announced by Deutsche Welle, an organization he describes as roughly similar to the BBC World Service. Here are the categories (quoted from the site, with descriptions where needed). The site notes that prizes were awarded “by an international team of blog experts.”

BEST BLOG
Absolutely everything about the future winner of this category should be perfect – it should tackle poignant issues, have a great design and even better writing.
BEST SUBJECT
In the category of “Best Subject,” Weblogs will be honored that deal with a single issue and provide excellent analysis, original information or service.
BEST DESIGN
In this category, we will be rewarding sites with clearly structured, functional and topically suited design. The blog should also be aesthetically pleasing, leaving no desire unfilled.
BEST BLOG INNOVATION
The award for most-innovative Weblog is intended for excellent and helpful portals, technologies, software and other innovations that foster the growth and advancement of the blogger community.
BEST JOURNALISTIC BLOG/ARABIC
BEST JOURNALISTIC BLOG/CHINESE
BEST JOURNALISTIC BLOG/ENGLISH
BEST JOURNALISTIC BLOG/GERMAN

I’ve looked at only a few of the winners, but already it’s been fascinating to get an international perspective on the blogosphere.