Local officials gathered in China’s central city of Xinyang in March for a seminar about regulations requiring them to be frugal. Over lunch, five officials consumed four bottles of baijiu, a fiery sorghum-based spirit, flouting the very rules they had studied.

       One of them died that afternoon, according to an official account, which didn’t state the cause of death. The officials at the lunch tried to hide the illicit consumption of alcohol, the account said, by paying off the deceased official’s family and omitting the drinking in their reports to superiors.

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       BEDMINSTER, N.J.—President Trump warned former right-hand-man Elon Musk to stay out of the midterm elections, threatening “very serious consequences" if he backed Democrats in the campaign.

       Musk, who crossed Trump by staunchly opposing his “big, beautiful" tax-and-spending bill over deficit concerns, said last week that anyone who votes for this bill should be fired. Some Democrats have suggested that they try to win Musk over to their side, despite his being villainized by the party for his sweeping cuts to government staff. The billionaire spent about $300 million backing Trump and Republican candidates in the 2024 elections.

       Asked by NBC News on Saturday if Trump was concerned that Musk could start funding Democratic candidates, Trump said “he’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," but declined to provide specifics.

       In the NBC interview Trump said he had “no reason to" repair his relationship with Musk, after their breakup played out in real time on Thursday. Asked whether his relationship with the billionaire businessman was over, Trump said, “I would assume so."

       Musk deleted social-media posts in which he attempted to connect the president with convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. As the men’s relationship imploded on Thursday, Musk wrote on X that Trump’s name appeared in documents stemming from a federal investigation of Epstein, insinuating that he was in some way linked to the late disgraced financier’s criminal behavior.

       On Friday, Musk wrote, “I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files." Both posts have been removed from Musk’s X feed.

       The president and his senior aides said Trump has no connection to Epstein’s crimes. Trump called the allegations “old news" in the NBC interview. “Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein," Vice President JD Vance said in a recent podcast interview.

       Behind the scenes, some people close to Trump and Musk have sought to organize a phone call between the two men in an attempt to hash out their differences, according to people familiar with the matter.

       David Sacks, a venture capitalist who acts as Trump’s AI and crypto czar, has been privately encouraging Musk to call the president to try to mend the relationship, according to people familiar with the matter. James Fishback, a businessman and supporter of both Trump and Musk, encouraged Musk on social media to apologize to the president. A spokeswoman for Sacks declined to comment.

       But Trump has said repeatedly in interviews he has no interest in talking to Musk, and the president’s advisers played down the possibility of a call.

       A senior White House official reiterated that Trump has no immediate plans to speak with Musk, adding that the president is in the process of moving on after the high-profile clash with the billionaire. The official said Musk’s decision to delete his social-media posts about Epstein isn’t enough to repair the relationship.

       After Fishback wrote in a social-media post that Musk should apologize to Trump, Fishback heard from White House officials, who thanked him for his support, but said—at least for now—that the relationship between the president and the Tesla CEO is over, a person with knowledge of the conversation said.

       Long before Trump and Musk had their public falling out, some White House staff privately clashed with the billionaire, including Sergio Gor, the head of the White House Personnel Office.

       Issues between Musk and Gor intensified during a mid-March cabinet meeting, where Musk complained extensively about what he said was the slow pace of hiring aides to fill agencies. Musk’s complaints were seen as an effort by Musk to embarrass Gor in front of the cabinet, according to several people familiar with the episode. But Gor was prepared to push back on Musk’s broadsides, and had statistics about the pace of hiring at his fingertips, some of the people said.

       Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said in a statement that Gor is a vital member of Trump’s team. “As a long-time advisor, there is nobody more capable of ensuring the government is staffed with people who are aligned with the mission to make America great again and work towards implementing the president’s agenda," Cheung said.

       Though Musk has toned down some of his harsh rhetoric over the past 48 hours, he has continued to raise concerns on his X account about what he argues is out-of-control spending by the federal government.

       And he has continued publicly discussing the possibility of starting a new political party that he argues would better represent the majority of voters. He wrote on X that he plans to call it The America Party.

       Trump and his senior advisers have tried to refocus their attention on passing Trump’s tax-and-spending bill, which cleared the House last month and is now being debated in the Senate.

       “I’m too busy doing other things. You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened," Trump told NBC when asked if he has any desire to repair his relationship with Musk. “I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the president."

       Write to Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com and Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com

       New Delhi: The Centre has proposed a key change to the copyright regime by making it mandatory for owners and licensors of literary works, musical works and sound recordings to set up an online mechanism for collection of licence fees, as per a notification issued by the commerce ministry on Thursday.

       The move is aimed at streamlining payments and improving transparency in the way royalties are collected and distributed, especially amid the growing reliance on digital modes of content consumption and public performance.

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       A notification in this regard has been issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 5 June, seeking public comments on the draft Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2025 within 30 days, possibly by 4 July.

       The draft rules insert a new provision—Rule 83(A)—in the Copyright Rules, 2013, requiring that “all payments of such licence fee shall be processed exclusively through said online system," and explicitly barring any alternative mode of payment.

       Stakeholders have been given 30 days to submit their objections or suggestions. Any feedback received within this period will be duly examined by the central government before finalizing the rules, the ministry said.

       The proposal, once finalized, could change the way licensing entities, including copyright societies and aggregators, operate, potentially reducing disputes over manual transactions and non-transparent fee collection. Legal experts said that the amendment reflects a broader policy shift towards digital governance and accountability in the IP rights ecosystem.

       Also read: Eminem sues Facebook-owner Meta for $109 million over alleged copyright infringement

       “The government appears to be moving towards a fully auditable, traceable digital trail for royalty payments, which will benefit both creators and licensees by reducing ambiguity," said Manish K Shubhay, Partner at The Precept-Law Offices.

       However, questions remain over the operational aspects—whether existing copyright societies will be required to revamp their systems or if the change targets individual right holders.

       India has seen a steady rise in content licensing for OTT platforms, radio broadcasters, live events, and public performances, making timely and transparent payments a long-standing demand of creators and music labels. On the proposed draft rule, a senior commerce ministry official said that the amendment was designed to “facilitate efficient royalty flows and curb evasive practices."

       However, the draft rule does not currently specify the format or standards of the online mechanism, leaving room for further clarifications during the consultation process.

       “IPRS welcomes this progressive move aimed at enhancing transparency and streamlining the copyright licensing process. We are pleased to share that IPRS implemented a fully online and digital licensing system nearly five years ago. Today, over 99.5% of our licensing fees for royalties are collected digitally, ensuring ease, accessibility, and transparency for users," said Rakesh Nigam, chief executive officer (CEO) of IPRS (Indian Performing Right Society), a collective rights management organization.

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       "Our licensing tariffs are publicly available on the IPRS website, enabling users to choose the license best suited to their needs with complete clarity. We also maintain a strict no-cash policy, reinforcing our commitment to transparency and efficiency.

       This proposed mandate further aligns with the steps IPRS has already taken and will help standardize best practices across the sector for the benefit of creators, users, and the broader copyright ecosystem."