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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has defended his failed attempt last week to impose military rule on the country as the leader of his party signals it is preparing to support his impeachment on Saturday.

In only his second public appearance since his doomed martial law gambit, Yoon on Thursday morning lashed out at critics, calling them “anti-state forces”, and suggested North Korea had helped leftwing opposition parties secure victory in parliamentary elections.

“I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralysing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.

His defiance followed a speech by Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon’s conservative People Power party, who said the president had not abided by an agreement to transfer decision-making over state affairs to his cabinet, leaving impeachment as the only means to protect the country’s democracy.

“We have tried to look for other options that reduce uncertainties that may be tied with impeachment, but the [basis] for that was that the president agree to early resignation from office,” Han told reporters. “But as the president has no intention to do so, other options are not viable.”

Han’s announcement suggests the president’s political fate could be resolved within days, following a week of turmoil during which neither the government, the party nor the presidential office could confirm who was in charge of the country.

Eight out of 108 People Power lawmakers must vote for an impeachment motion if the National Assembly is to secure the required two-thirds majority for it to pass. The party boycotted an impeachment vote last week, but a second vote is expected to be scheduled for Saturday.

“Impeachment is now inevitable,” said Kang Won-taek, a professor of political science at Seoul National University. “It is not that the [People Power party] never wanted to impeach him [in principle], but last week was too early for them to take a decision when there was still little information available as to his motives.

“But now there is growing evidence, including this public address, that the president really did do this out of his own conviction,” said Kang.

Yoon, who is subject to a travel ban as he is investigated on insurrection charges, said his martial law order had been an administrative decision that could not be scrutinised by law enforcement agencies.

The president also said that on the night of his martial law decree, he had dispatched troops to the country’s electoral commission to inspect its systems for signs that North Korean hackers had manipulated April parliamentary elections in which opposition parties triumphed.

Yoon’s defiant appearance comes after senior military commanders told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that on the night of the martial law attempt, the president had issued direct orders for lawmakers to be physically prevented from voting to reject his decree.

Special forces commander Lieutenant General Kwak Jong-geun testified that Yoon had told him to “break open the door and drag lawmakers out” because “they have not reached a quorum yet.”

If an impeachment motion is passed, it must then be approved by the country’s Constitutional Court. In the meantime, the president is suspended from duties, and authority is passed to the prime minister on an interim basis.

The court is supposed to deliver its verdict within 180 days of the parliamentary vote, but this time limit is not binding.

There is something strange happening in the skies above New Jersey, and no one seems quite sure what to make of it — not the governor, not members of Congress, not the FBI.

What they know is that starting in mid-November, dozens of identified drones have been spotted at night flying in at least 10 different counties across the state. What they don’t know is where the drones are coming from, who’s flying them and why.

The drones have been spotted above critical infrastructure, according to authorities, including reservoirs, electric transmission lines, rail stations, police departments and military installations.

A U.S. Army base in northern Morris County has already had at least 11 sightings, Army officials said this week, several of which came even after the Federal Aviation Administration moved to temporarily restrict drones from flying overhead. In neighboring Somerset County, the FAA has also banned drones from flying over the golf course owned by President-elect Donald Trump.

It’s not illegal to fly a drone in New Jersey, so long as the operator is certified with the FAA. Small unregistered drones being used for recreation can be flown in unrestricted areas.

But the number and mysterious nature of the sightings have left many Garden State residents on edge. So too has their size, as many of the drones appear to be larger than those that are typically used by hobbyists.

The office of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy did not respond to a request for comment, but speaking at an unrelated bill signing earlier this week, Murphy said there had been 49 sightings on Sunday alone — though several of those may have been duplicates or merely possible sightings.

In a posting on social media last week, Murphy said state officials were “actively monitoring the situation and in close coordination with our federal and law enforcement partners.”

“There is no known threat to the public at this time,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s assurances have done little to quiet the concerns of residents and other officials across the state. In a statement posted to Facebook last week, the police chief of Florham Park, N.J., said “their presence appears nefarious in nature.” And during a House hearing on Monday focused on unmanned aerial systems, N.J. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican, said he thought the drones were a “very serious threat.”

Given the alarm the drones have caused, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said in a statement Monday that he was calling for more transparency from federal officials.

“There is a growing sense of uncertainty and urgency across the state — from constituents and local officials alike — despite assurances that the drones pose no known threats to public safety,” Booker wrote in a letter to leaders at the FBI, and the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security.

“As such, I urge you to share any relevant information about these drone sightings with the public. Without transparency, I believe that rumors, fear, and misinformation will continue to spread,” he added.

So far at least one theory has been ruled out — that the drones were coming from the Picatinny Arsenal military research base in Morris County. In a statement obtained by the Morristown Daily Record on Monday, base commander Lt. Col. Craig Bonham II said the drones were not theirs.

“While the source and cause of these aircraft operating in our area remain unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activities,” Bonham said.

The FBI has opened an investigation, but bureau officials say key questions remain unresolved.

Speaking to House lawmakers Monday, Robert Wheeler, the assistant director for the bureau’s critical incident response group, said the FBI still did not know whether a specific individual was responsible for the flights or whether they were the work of a larger group. Wheeler also could not definitively rule out the possibility that the drones may pose a risk to public safety or national security.

“There’s nothing that is known that would lead me to say that, but we just don’t know, and that’s the concerning part,” Wheeler said.

In a statement, the FBI said it “remains engaged with our federal, state, local, and tribal partners to share information and protect the public.” It added that any drones “that pose a danger to any aircraft or are observed operating in restricted airspace or near critical infrastructure and other sensitive sites, can be reported to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.”

Unidentified drones have puzzled the public before. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported about unidentified drones swarming Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days. As with the drones over New Jersey, those flights called to memory the Chinese spy balloon that the U.S. military shot down over the coast of South Carolina in 2023.

The flights over New Jersey have led to calls for the military to shoot down the unidentified drones, but under federal law the military is largely prohibited from doing so unless the drone poses an imminent threat. It is also illegal for individuals to shoot down any aircraft — including drones.

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The $4tn private equity industry has struck its first two deals to buy stakes in National Football League teams as Wall Street’s most powerful funds eye long-term investments in the world’s most profitable sports league.

Ares Management on Wednesday acquired a 10 per cent stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins franchise. Arctos, a sports-focused private equity investor, led a group that purchased a minority equity stake in the Buffalo Bills, based in upstate New York and owned by oil billionaire Terry Pegula, father of US tennis star Jessica Pegula.

The NFL approved the two deals at its owners’ meeting in Dallas, ushering in a new era when Wall Street investment funds will be allowed to own direct stakes in popular and valuable US football teams.

The deals are the first in what investors expect will be a torrent of similar minority investments in the coming years, after NFL owners approved major changes to ownership rules in August and permitted private equity groups to invest in teams.

Ares, which manages nearly $500bn in assets, is buying its minority stake from Dolphins owner and billionaire real estate mogul Stephen Ross at a valuation of $8.1bn, said people briefed on the deal.

In addition to a stake in the football team, Ares and other investors in the group — including Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai — will own minority stakes in the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and the Formula One Miami Grand Prix.

Finance firms have long hoped to invest in the NFL. “It’s the most valuable global sports property from an economic standpoint,” said one prominent dealmaker, who also noted investors have been drawn to the consistency of team profits and the belief new revenue streams will generate rising cash flows to ownership groups.

NFL teams also carry unleveraged balance sheets, making the investments recession-resistant. “The cap tables are not what we are used to seeing in a traditional leveraged buyout,” said another dealmaker. Team values are priced at multiples of about nine to 12 times revenues, said people familiar with the matter, who noted those can go higher or lower depending on whether a team owns their stadium.

Buying an NFL franchise outright is beyond even some of the world’s richest people, as valuations have soared. That has strengthened the case for allowing buyout firms to enter the ownership ecosystem to smooth the sales process for existing owners and facilitate liquidity.

The average NFL team was worth roughly $5.9bn in Sportico’s valuations report in August, an increase of more than 15 per cent on last year, bolstered by the league’s domestic media rights, which are worth $110bn over the 11 years through 2033.

Arctos and Ares have a long record of investing in sports teams around the globe.

Dallas-based Arctos has minority stakes in several baseball teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, and basketball franchises such as the Utah Jazz. Last year the firm acquired stakes in the Qatari-owned football team Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Martin F1. The firm’s co-founder Ian Charles told the Financial Times earlier this year it planned to focus future investment in North America after it raised a new $4.1bn fund in April.

Ares, which specialises in credit, has completed deals with several football teams including Chelsea, Olympique Lyonnais and Inter Miami. In 2022, it raised $3.7bn for a fund dedicated to sport and media investments. It has also backed the McLaren Racing F1 team.

Ares and Arctos were among a small group of private equity firms the NFL approved as potential buyers. The others were Sixth Street and a consortium made up of Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity and Ludis.

The NFL stipulated that firms are only permitted to buy up to 10 per cent of any individual team, and blocked so-called preferred equity deals that give certain shareholders superior rights such as first dibs on dividends.