Jordan Palace says king to receive spine surgery in Germany

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s palace says the monarch is traveling to Germany Sunday for a spine surgery. King Abdullah II, 60, will undergo a surgery to treat “a herniated disk in the thoracic spine” at a hospital in Frankfurt next week, and will return home after a recovery period of one week, the Royal Hashemite Court says Saturday. The king suffers from intermittent spine pain “as a result of parachute jumping during his years of service in special operations,” and doctors advised him to receive the surgery as the pain increased recently. King Abdullah ascended the throne in 1999 after the death of his father, King Hussein.