TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on Wednesday as a rise in U.S. bond yields above 3 percent and warnings from bellwether U.S. companies of higher costs drove fears that a boom in corporate earnings may be near its peak.

LONDON/NEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) - Rare disease specialist Shire said on Wednesday it was willing to recommend a sweetened $64 billion offer from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co to shareholders, in what would be the biggest acquisition of a drug company this year.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Claudia Maria de Oliveira is leery of online shopping. But while browsing social media recently, the 49-year-old Brazilian spotted a bargain-priced sandwich press from local retailer Magazine Luiza SA.

SEOUL (Reuters) - General Motors and South Korea are considering increasing the size of their investment in the U.S. automaker's local unit from a previously proposed $2.8 billion, a senior government source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google unveiled on Wednesday its first Gmail redesign since 2013, capping what the company says was an expensive overhaul two years in the making to adopt security and offline functionality and better resemble Microsoft Outlook.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's Asia head said on Wednesday he hoped recent Chinese moves to relax ownership rules in the country's auto market would speed up regulatory approval for its electric vehicle joint venture with local firm Zotye Automobile Co Ltd <000980.SZ>.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Western banks are seeking clarification from China's securities watchdog on proposals to allow them to take over their onshore securities ventures, amid concerns about high asset value requirements and limits to ownership by non-financial investors.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Kobe Steel Ltd <5406.T> said on Wednesday that it is under investigation by Japanese authorities over its data tampering, widening a scandal that undermined faith in Japan's industrial sector last year.

(Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Group <9984.T> plans to shift more than $20 billion of its investments in top ride-hailing companies including Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], Ola, Grab and Didi Chuxing into its Saudi-backed Vision technology fund, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.