Across the Pacific, the nation of North Korea is making a statement with cruise missiles.

This is a secretive communist country situated between China and South Korea.

It said on Monday it had successfully test-fired the weapons over the weekend and that after two hours of flight time, they hit targets hundreds of miles from their launch site in North Korean territory.

Cruise missiles are harder to detect than ballistic missiles, which North Korea has also tested in the past, and experts say most cruise missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Still, this is the most significant weapons test by North Korea since US President Joe Biden took office in January.

That's something the international experts keep tabs on because, despite historic summits between the two countries' leaders during the Trump Administration, the United States and North Korea have remained rivals since fighting stopped in the Korean War in 1953.

The communist country's announcement was also noteworthy for its timing.

There's a meeting in Japan this week between American, Japanese, and South Korean officials.

These three countries are allies, and their rival North Korea is the subject of this meeting.

So analysts say that by purportedly launching new missiles, North Korea may be trying to show off its importance in the region.

The country utilizes parades to do this as well.

A midnight parade in Pyongyang.

An event commemorating the 73rd anniversary of North Korea's founding.

And, at the stroke of midnight, Thursday, a surprise appearance.

The country's 37-year-old dictator Kim, Jong-un in a tailored light-colored suit, looking remarkably slimmer than he was a few months ago.

He has clearly lost so much weight; he was looking svelte, trim⏤we're not used to that.

And I think in some ways, we saw that as the biggest risk to the North Korean leadership was his health.

So it's interesting how the regime has used his weight loss in its propaganda.

Other footage shows the supreme leader and top aides at an outdoor table, appearing to enjoy some kind of bright-green drinks with a twirly straw.

The western-style suit, the overall air of confidence, analysts say, could be an effort by Kim to channel his late grandfather, Kim, Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, who remains a wildly popular figure there.

His grandfather was somebody that the North Koreans genuinely have respect and affection for.

And I do see that during times of hardship and trouble, he really works to evoke the memory of his grandfather.

The parade featured the customary rows of soldiers in perfectly synchronized cadence, paratroopers descending in the night sky, aircraft firing flares⏤but with a notable feature missing.

This time, no missiles on display, no references to North Korea's nuclear capability.

Instead, there were fire trucks, dogs, horses, and a large formation of marchers in orange hazmat suits⏤what North Korean media described as the emergency disease prevention unit.

The focus is to demonstrate Kim's unsurpassed handling of the pandemic, and hazmat suits and dogs and fire trucks and horses, apparently, are much better for manipulating the narrative of successful pandemic management than missiles.

North Korea still claims it's had no cases of COVID-19 in the entire country⏤something analysts say is highly unlikely⏤and Kim still can't sidestep his nation's status as a rogue regime.

The International Olympic Committee has just decided to ban North Korea from participating in next year's Winter Olympics in Beijing⏤at least under the country's official name⏤because of North Korea's decision not to send any athletes to this year's Summer Games in Tokyo.

Missing the Olympics, not once, but twice, in the space of a year is a terrible missed opportunity for North Korea.

But I think because they've been in this emergency lockdown state with the pandemic, they will have to pay the price of being relegated to a non-player, a non-actor.

Analysts say, despite this pageantry, despite Kim, Jong-un's appearance, North Korea is probably worse off internally than much of the world realizes.

They point out that during the pandemic, North Korea's border with China has been closed off; food, revenue, other resources have not been getting in; and North Koreans are likely in more desperate straits than they usually are.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

10-second trivia: Which of these food delivery platforms was founded first?

Grubhub, Ubereats, DoorDash, or Postmates.

Grubhub was established in 2004, several years before any of these other companies.

But all of those companies are involved in a new lawsuit against New York City.

This concerns what third-party delivery platforms like Grubhub and Ubereats are allowed to charge restaurants for their services.

Let's say you use DoorDash to order a hamburger to go.

New York's government says the most that DoorDash can charge the restaurant is 15% of the cost of your order, plus an additional 5% for fees like marketing.

These limits can help restaurants by keeping their costs down on to-go orders.

That's why they were put in place last year when restaurants were forced to close or limit their dining room capacity because of concerns surrounding COVID.

But the limits can hurt delivery companies which have their own operating costs.

They say they may be forced to reduce their services or charge higher fees to people who order to-go food.

And because New York City recently voted to make its fee limits permanent, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Ubereats sued.

They say the government is illegally interfering with agreements reached between restaurants and delivery companies, that the city shouldn't have the power to decide business economics.

New York's Law Department says it's confident its limits are legal and that it will defend them in court.

San Francisco is another city that's put delivery limits in place, and DoorDash and Grubhub are suing there as well.

An ongoing challenge for restaurants and delivery companies in some areas is a shortage of workers⏤help is wanted in many parts of the United States.

It's not just in the food industry⏤there's a shortage of truck drivers, manufacturers are having trouble filling factory jobs.

Some businesses and states have blamed government benefits⏤pay for unemployed workers during the COVID pandemic⏤as one reason why people weren't motivated to go back to work, but those benefits have expired.

And while analysts say there's more than one factor to blame, some restaurants are getting creative to keep their doors open.

In the month of July, Texas added over 72,000 jobs, about 18,000 of those were in the Dallas-Plano-Irving metro area, and even still⏤

One of the things that's happening is some workers are saying, "I don't want to go back to that."

In one of the fastest-growing states in the country, many of those roles are going unfilled.

ED Sills, a Texas AFL-CIO, a state labor union, says it's likely the low wages of service jobs and the Delta variant keeping folks from clocking back in.

They found that maybe working the night shift or being paid $8 an hour is something that can be improved upon and they found ways to do it somehow during this pandemic.

But some businesses have grown tired of waiting for applications altogether.

The Dallas restaurant "La Duni" has turned to robots for workers.

I have people who tell me, "Well, they're taking people's jobs."

Guess what?

No, they're not taking anybody's job because no one is showing up.

What they are doing is helping the ones who are really working.

Their owner says they have a third of the staff they had pre-pandemic and that hiring has been nearly impossible.

Their three robots take guests to tables, bring out orders, and even sing "Happy birthday".

The goal isn't to replace all their staff, but to help supplement the jobs no one else seems to want.

And they don't complain and they're happy to do it.

Ed says until those jobs become more desirable, it's no surprise businesses will have to get creative.

The market is finally working on behalf of workers.

He does believe eventually the labor shortage will level, but it will likely take COVID calming down and improved pay for workers.

(I) Think it's probably part of a stage of recovery rather than something permanent.

Well, whether or not you're familiar with all the rules of cricket, you probably know this ain't supposed to happen.

Oh, the dog has the ball! Oh, here we go. Now, that is a... (laughs)

At least she's not breaking any leash laws.

An Irish women's player who was on the field owns this cocker spaniel, according to Newsweek magazine.

When she practices with her family at home, the dog reportedly plays with them.

So, when the animal saw her owner playing in a game, well...

So the dog plays cricket. Was she told to go and "sic" it? Did she kick it? Did she flick it?

No, she saw the ball and picked it!

Then she ran away so quick it caused an interrupted "wicket"; protesters can go and "pick it" unless the dog had a "ticket".

Well, it's almost time for us to scoot on out of here.

But before we do, we want to give a shout-out to Seaforth High School, our viewers watching in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Subscribing and commenting on our YouTube channel is the only way to get a mention of your school.

I'm Carl Azuz for CNN.