Newspaper review: Focus on NHS helpline concerns 6 May 2013 Last updated at 05:12 Concerns about the new NHS 111 helpline receive front page prominence in the day's newspapers. The Independent says it has obtained a damning report in which GPs warn that the system is putting lives at risk because operators are making "inappropriate" decisions. The first official survey of doctors' experiences of the service reveals widespread concerns about clinical failings and "terrible" communication, the paper adds. Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports that American scientists have created a "wonder treatment" for joints - which has been hailed as a breakthrough for millions of arthritis sufferers. The chemical mixture is said to work better than anything used currently to ease the condition. Bill amendments The government's proposal to close a loophole that allows people who live abroad to claim a British state pension based solely on the employment record of their partner, is the lead for the Daily Telegraph. Pensions Minister Steve Webb tells the paper that taxpayers are funding state pensions for hundreds of thousands of people who live abroad and have never paid tax in this country. The paper's headline is: "Pay no tax, live abroad ... and get a UK pension." According to the Times, David Cameron has been told by his MPs to drop the gay marriage Bill from the Queen's Speech on Wednesday, and cut overseas aid, in an effort to halt the UKIP bandwagon. It says they believe the prime minister must attend to the Conservatives' "home base" swiftly to prevent more supporters from deserting the party. And the Daily Mail and the Sun both report that David Cameron is indeed dropping his controversial pledge to give legal basis to the government's commitment to spend at least 0.7% of GDP on overseas aid. According to the Mail, it had previously been reported that the measure would not be included in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday, but it is now understood to have been shelved entirely. However, the Sun says that although the commitment will not make the statute books before the general election, it will be honoured. Syrian concerns The press also sound a note of alarm over Israel's bombing of targets inside Syria over the past few days. The Guardian says the regional map is suddenly crisscrossed with red lines - with the conflict now threatening to become a much wider and more volatile conflagration. For the Daily Mirror, the air strikes are a dangerous escalation of a conflict that risks spreading further across the Middle East. In the Daily Telegraph's view, the capacity of the Syrian civil war to draw other nations into its vortex has finally been realised. Robert Fisk writes in the Independent that Israel regards itself as a Western nation - and this means we (the West) are now militarily involved in the war. The Guardian reports that the British government is negotiating payments to thousands of Kenyans who were detained and severely mistreated during the 1950s Mau Mau insurgency. It would be the first compensation settlement resulting from official crimes committed under imperial rule. Not amused Meanwhile, Dame Helen Mirren, who's playing the Queen at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End, stormed out during the interval of Saturday's show, in full costume, to order a troupe of street drummers banging away outside to stop disturbing the performance. The Mirror says the actress was wearing her trademark royal outfit, complete with tiara and pearls. According to the Telegraph, the drummers were left open-jawed when they were confronted by the actress, dressed as the Queen, "effing and blinding" as she told them to keep quiet. Reports of her exact words differ, the Mail says, but her language was far from regal and it's clear she was not amused. The incident is the Sun's main story, accompanied by the headline, "Do One."