(CNN) - Royal Dutch Shell and the United Steelworkers union, which represents oil refinery workers, have agreed to rolling 24-hour contract extensions as negotiations continue on a labor agreement scheduled to expire Sunday.

Union spokeswoman Lynne Baker told CNN that the 24-hour extensions were set to begin at 12:01 am Sunday local time in each time zone. The extensions will automatically renew each day until an agreement is reached or the union terminates the contract, Baker said.

In the event of a contract termination, the union will give 24 hours notice before instituting a strike, which could put thousands of oil refinery workers on picket lines.

Baker said contract negotiations are scheduled to resume Sunday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) –Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rang in the new year still saddled with $5.9 million in debts left over from her unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign, according to records filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission.

The nation's top diplomat has been steadily chipping away at unpaid campaign bills since suspending her White House bid in June 2008, when her debt peaked at $25.2 million.

That amount included both $12 million owed to vendors as well as the $13.2 million she loaned her campaign from personal funds.

Clinton's campaign was unable to repay that personal loan by the time the Democratic National Convention convened in Denver last August, the deadline mandated by the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

The former New York senator has since forgiven the entire loan amount, leaving only the $5.9 million owed to vendors on the campaign's books.

Clinton and her supporters had been in a race against time to pay off as much of the debt as possible by the time of her confirmation and swearing-in as the nation's 67th secretary of state on January 21.

As of that date, Clinton became subject to a federal law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from personally soliciting or accepting political contributions.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire is the leading candidate to become President Barack Obama's commerce secretary and a decision could come as soon as Monday, an administration official told CNN Saturday.

Gregg said in a written statement Friday that he was among those being considered for the post, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that "a final decision had not been made."

"I know that's something that [President Obama] hopes to make a decision on and announce shortly. But until the President tells me to make a personnel announcement from this podium, I'll refrain from getting into individual names on that," Gibbs said at Friday's press briefing.

The administration official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss administration deliberations.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Four prominent Democratic Senators spoke out Saturday in support of former Sen. Tom Daschle, whose tax records have come under scrutiny as he pursues a Cabinet position in the administration of President Barack Obama.

Obama nominated the 61-year-old South Dakotan to be secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Senate Finance committee - which will vote on the nomination before the full Senate votes on whether to confirm him - is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the nomination.

A committee memo obtained Friday by CNN indicates committee members want to discuss the use of a car and driver that Daschle didn't disclose on his income taxes, and nonpayment of taxes on more than $80,000 he earned in consulting fees after leaving the Senate.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the senior member of the finance committee, released a statement Saturday saying, "Months ago, Tom personally and proactively addressed the taxes issue and took all necessary steps to correct his innocent error."

Kerry's statement did not elaborate on Daschle's actions, but the memo obtained by CNN said Daschle has paid about $150,000 in back taxes and interest to address the problems.

(CNN) - The head of the opposition to Madagascar's government took to the streets Saturday, declaring himself the nation's leader after a week of violence and looting that killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 300.

Andry Rajoelina, mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo, called on supporters to demand the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana and said that he plans to give orders until a transition government can be established.

He called on workers in the island nation off of Africa's southeastern coast to stay away from work and make the capital a "ghost town" until Ravalomanana steps down, according to a statement from the government.

Meanwhile, Ravalomanana was traveling the country on Saturday, surveying damage from the looting and telling citizens that he remains in charge.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - The number of Iraqi civilian deaths in January reached the lowest levels since the U.S.-led invasion began in 2003, according to government numbers supplied to CNN.

So far in January, 138 civilians were killed in violence across the country, compared with 238 in December, according to the figures, based on data collected by Iraq's Health, Defense and Interior ministries.

Some 303 civilians were wounded in January, nearly half of the 601 wounded in December, according to the numbers.

Casualty figures have been steadily dropping since the fall of 2007. The U.S. military attributes the decline to several factors: the U.S.-led "surge;" the growth of the Sunni militants that decided to back the United States, or Awakening Councils; and militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's call for his militia to cease fire.

(CNN) - Moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheekh Ahmed was sworn in as Somalia's new president Saturday after he was voted in by the country's parliament, a Somali journalist told CNN.

Journalist Omar Faruk Osman told CNN that Sheikh Sharif was sworn in at about 11 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) in Djibouti, which lies northwest of Somalia.

The vote and swearing-in took place in Djibouti because the international community wanted to be present to observe the voting process and could not do so in Somalia for safety reasons.

The Djibouti location had been chosen before radical Islamic fighters took over the Somali parliament building and the presidential palace earlier this week.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - Voting ended Saturday evening for Iraqi provincial elections, and the mood was festive in Anbar, where violence and intimidation by al Qaeda kept most residents from casting ballots in 2005.

One high official called Saturday's election, held in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces, "truly a proud moment." Preliminary results from the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq are expected within five days, said Staffan de Mistura, head of the U.N. mission in that country. Final numbers are due at the end of February.

Only two instances of violence were reported.

CNN's Arwa Damon, who toured polling stations with U.N. observers, said she noticed an increased sense of awareness and optimism among voters, who felt their participation would have an impact on their lives and country.

Political analysts said this election could correct some of the political imbalances that resulted from the 2005 election. Saturday's voting also was seen as a referendum on the popularity of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

(CNN) - Four more fires were deliberately set early Saturday in an area
of eastern Pennsylvania plagued by arsons, authorities said.

The residential fires occurred from 12:35 a.m. through 7 a.m. Saturday in
Chester County, Pennsylvania, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives. A county task force declared the blazes, on the front
and side porches of homes, were arson, officials said in a statement.

The area, near Coatesville, Pennsylvania - about 40 miles west of
Philadelphia - has been beset by a string of arsons.

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) - Armed men forced their way into a Caracas synagogue, defacing its administrative offices with anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalizing an interior room where the Torah is kept, officials said.

About 15 men forced their way into the Mariperez Synagogue about 10 p.m. Friday night, staying until about 3 a.m., police said. They tied up a security guard at the synagogue before vandalizing the rooms.

Graffiti left at the scene included the phrases, "Damn the Jews," "Jews out of here" and "Israel assassins." The men also left behind a picture of a devil, authorities said. The men also stole computers and administrative papers or documents, officials said. They did not cover their faces, but took the recordings from security cameras with them.