A man was injured when a package exploded on Friday outside the offices of the Roma party Evroroma in the central Bulgarian town of Sandanski, police said.

The 59-year-old Roma man had picked up a parcel outside the building, in a usually busy area near the town's market, when it exploded, regional police Chief Georgy Kostov said.

Bulgaria's Christian Orthodox Church said Thursday it had decided to start awarding a new honorary title to major benefactors... including an arms dealer.

The title "Archon," which exists in other countries but was hitherto unknown in Bulgaria, was recently awarded to three powerful but controversial businessmen, prompting vehement criticism of the metropolitans who granted the title.

The foreign ministers of Poland, Bulgaria and Sweden will focus on the conflict in Syria during visits to Lebanon and Iraq from Thursday to Sunday, the Polish foreign ministry announced Wednesday.

Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski, Bulgaria's Nikolay Mladenov and Sweden's Carl Bildt will also discuss the countries' relations with the EU.

Scientists have found new evidence they say supports the theory that a knuckle bone and other human remains found under a church floor in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist.

The relics found in a small marble sarcophagus two years ago on a Bulgarian island called Sveti Ivan, which translates as Saint John, also included a human tooth, part of a skull and three animal bones.

Archaeologists in Bulgaria have unearthed two skeletons from the Middle Ages pierced through the chest with iron rods to keep them from turning into vampires, the head of the history museum said.

"These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century," said national history museum chief Bozhidar Dimitrov after the recent find in the Black Sea town of Sozopol.

A 5.8-magnitude quake struck Bulgaria early Tuesday, triggering panic among local residents who ran into the streets in their pajamas, and some minor damage, but no casualties were reported.

The quake jolted the town of Pernik, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the capital Sofia, causing some tall buildings to sway, and was followed by about 15 lighter aftershocks, local seismologists said.

Qatar eyed Bulgaria investment opportunities on Thursday as the two countries signed a framework agreement at the start of a visit by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani to Bulgaria.

"I believe that there are viable opportunities to invest in Bulgaria," Sheikh Hamad told a press conference after signing an investment framework agreement with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov, adding that the government in Sofia "interacts with us seriously and responsibly."

Sprawling in the sun or barking and chasing cars, stray dogs have become part of urban life in Bulgaria but after a pack mauled a U.S. university professor to death, the mood of tolerance is over.

The 87-year-old man, who chose to spend his retirement in his native Bulgaria, was attacked in a Sofia street late last month by some 25 dogs who knocked him to the ground, tore at his face and bit his legs and arms to the bone.

Bulgaria's parliament approved a small government reshuffle Wednesday prompted by the forced resignations last week of two ministers over perceived failures to speed up reforms.

Lawmakers backed Delyan Dobrev, previously deputy minister for economy, energy and tourism, to step up to the top post, and Desislava Atanasova, head of the parliamentary health committee, to lead the health ministry.

Bulgaria on Saturday urged all its nationals to "immediately" leave Syria due to the worsening security situation in the violence-wracked country after a year of unrest.

"The foreign ministry calls on all Bulgarian citizens in Syria to immediately leave the country," the foreign ministry said.