Fox News' Twitter account has been hacked and messages reporting the 'assassination' of US president Barack Obama tweeted to the world.

The @foxnewspolitics feed stated: "BREAKING NEWS: @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much."

The postings state Obama was killed at Ross' Restaurant in Iowa, a site he actually visited last week while campaigning.

More than three hours after the malicious postings appeared, they had still not been removed and continue to be added to.

The lastest says: "We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there's light at the end of tunnel

A group of hackers who call themselves The Script Kiddies have claimed resposibility. Their account has now been suspended by Twitter.

In internet parlance, "Script Kiddie",means an inexperienced

person who uses off-the-shelf hacking technology, developed by other

people.

The bizarre messages began appearing around 07.00 BST on July 4.

The first read: "Just regained full access to our Twitter and email. Happy 4th."

The next posting stated: "@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead."

Fox News Politics is one of the accounts associated with the industry-leading cable news network.

Its Twitter account carries the "verified" tick icon, indicating that the feed belongs to the organisation it claims to be.

In a statement, Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital said: "We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts."