Cold beer is on tap in Minnesota this weekend. But it was almost the casualty of the two-week shutdown of the state government that may have come to an end.

MillerCoors, which holds "brand label registrations" for 39 beers, including Miller, Coors, Blue Moon Pale and Hamm's—almost 40 percent of the beer sold in Minnesota—sent in their renewal notice on June 15.

But the state Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Agency said that MillerCoors overpaid their registration fees; they refused to stamp their paperwork.

More than 22,000 people were disappointed and probably angry Friday. They were people who thought they had won spots to enter the United States in last May's U.S. State Department lottery. Instead, the U.S. government announced a computer glitch made the lottery invalid. Host Scott Simon reflects on the situation.

Last weekend, the Syrian government opened what was billed as a national dialogue conference. On Friday, anti-government activists massed huge crowds across the country; reportedly more than 1 million people took to the streets. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Deb Amos as leaders of Syria's opposition movement convene in Istanbul again to discuss the possible formation of a shadow government.

Two top names at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. resigned on Friday. Earlier in the week, Murdoch had to abandon his $12 billion bid to takeover BSkyB, the British broadcaster. Meanwhile, the FBI has opened an investigation into whether reporters working for News Corp. tried to access cellphone messages and records of 9/11 victims here in the United States. Host Scott Simon speaks with Clive Crook, columnist for the Financial Times and a contributor to the Atlantic.

House Republican Bill Huizenga of Michigan says it's critical for the debt ceiling to be raised, but that doesn't mean he would vote for it. Host Scott Simon talks with Huizenga about the debt and deficit stalemate.

A 10-mile section of California's Interstate 405 closed Friday night for construction. Host Scott Simon talks with KCRW traffic reporter Kajon Cermak about the shutdown and the impact on the surrounding community.

The week in Washington began and ended with presidential news conferences. In between, there were daily meetings between President Obama and leaders of Congress over what to do about the federal deficit as the deadline nears for raising the federal debt limit.

But despite some dire warnings about defaulting on some of that debt, the government seems no closer to an agreement that could solve either its short- or long-term budget woes.

A tall ship from Chile, the Esmeralda, is touring the West Coast of the United States this month. It's intended as a peaceful naval ambassador, but it's stirring dark feelings about Chile's history. The ship pulled into port in San Diego this week.

The Esmeralda is the second-longest and second-tallest in the world, with a pristine white hull, brass portholes and four masts topped with Chilean flags. Onboard, a sailor sells Chilean wine.

"[It] kind of reminds me of the Titanic," tourist Alex Rios says. "That old feeling to it, you know."

Each summer thousands of salmon can be seen shooting upstream at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon and into Washington state. Sea lions congregate there. They think of the salmon migration as a buffet.

Sea lions are protected species, but salmon are endangered. Wildlife regulators don't want sea lions to gorge themselves on endangered salmon. For a time, the National Marine Fisheries Service was authorized to shoot any sea lion with a salmon dangling from its mouth. A bill has recently been introduced in Congress to allow the killing to start again.

When Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger announced he was retiring from active duty, the U.S. Army thought it had lost its last Vietnam-era draftee.

It turns out that there were more — they were just hard to find, because the soldiers' service records began before the Army started using its current computer system.