Virtual reality and the battle to stream play online will take center stage at an Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game extravaganza kicking off in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Blockbuster video games will once again be the main event at the industry's biggest trade show, but in the wings attention will go to the promise of stepping into the games virtually and streaming them as spectator sport.

The hacking of millions of U.S. government employees is likely part of an effort by Chinese intelligence for long-term profiling -- and possibly more nefarious things.

Security analysts say considerable evidence points to China, and that the cyber-intrusion shows the long and patient efforts in Beijing to collect and compile data which may be useful in the future.

The United States on Friday said it was experiencing difficulties issuing passports and visas from consular offices around the world because of technical problems.

The problem affects all passport applications made overseas on or after May 26.

YouTube on Friday said it is creating an online arena devoted to video game play, jumping onto a hot "e-sports" trend and challenging Amazon-owned Twitch.

YouTube Gaming will debut in Britain and the United States in the coming months, according to product manager Alan Joyce.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who helped turn the trendy messaging startup into a global town square, is stepping down amid criticism over the company's disappointing financial performance and a recent stock slide.

Co-founder Jack Dorsey, who served as CEO during Twitter's early years, will temporarily take the reins while the San Francisco company looks for a permanent replacement.

Facebook-owned virtual reality firm Oculus aimed squarely at video game lovers on Thursday as it unveiled Rift headsets that it will begin selling early next year.

Oculus showed off Rift along with a dazzling array of games promised to be ready at launch, the exact date of which was not disclosed.

A U.S. appeals court Thursday declined efforts to put a temporary halt on "open Internet" regulations that prevent broadband providers from separating online traffic into slow and fast lanes.

The federal appeals court in Washington dismissed a bid to block implementation of the rules ordered earlier this year by the Federal Communications Commission, set to take effect Friday.

Uber released a free game Thursday that lets iPhone and iPad users test their skills as drivers for the controversial on-demand car ride service.

UberDRIVE launched in the U.S. in Apple's online iTunes shop.

Mobile messaging giant Line on Thursday launched a digital music streaming service in Japan, stepping into a largely untapped market still dominated by sales of compact discs.

The new business -- which comes weeks before Apple is expected to enter the Japanese market with its own streaming service -- offers unlimited access to a collection of more than 1.5 million songs for 1,000 yen (U.S.$8) a month.

Apple said Wednesday that it is cruising streets in specially equipped cars to gather pictures and other data for its free online mapping service.

For years, a Street View team has been ranging the world for Google Maps. Following in its tracks, Apple promised to safeguard privacy while gathering mapping data on the road.