NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are little changed in afternoon trading on Wall Street. Investors are weighing an improving outlook for the U.S. economy against a report that showed Chinese manufacturing contracted for a fourth straight month in April. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 are both trading close to their all-time closing highs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is deploying an economic weapon against Russia that could prove to be more costly than sanctions: the Internal Revenue Service. As the U.S. attempts to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the Treasury Department plans to start using a new tax law to make it more expensive for Russian banks to do business in the United States. Congress passed the law in 2010 to curb tax evasion through the use of overseas accounts.

NEW YORK (AP) — Executives at Pfizer Inc. say they’re continuing to review options after rival British drugmaker AstraZeneca again rejected their proposal to buy the company. The latest offer was valued at over $100 billion. Since January, Pfizer has been trying to get AstraZeneca to discuss its bid to buy the company, but says AstraZeneca’s board refuses to talk.

NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola says it will drop a controversial ingredient from Powerade and all of its other drinks that contain it. The Atlanta-based company says it will phase out the use of brominated vegetable oil, which was the target of petitions on Change.org by a Mississippi teenager. The company says it will replace BVO with other ingredients that do the same thing, which is improve the stability of its drinks and prevent certain ingredients from separating.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Booming production of oil and natural gas is exacting a little-known price on some of the nation’s roads. It’s contributing to a spike in traffic fatalities in states where many streets and highways are choked with large trucks and heavy drilling equipment. An Associated Press analysis of traffic deaths and U.S. census data in six drilling states shows that in some places, fatalities have more than quadrupled since 2004. The industry acknowledges the problem and says steps are being taken to improve safety.

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