Paula Fouad Noon, a 25-year-old born and raised in Beirut, moved to San Francisco after completing her university studies in the United States, where she established herself within a specialized team of engineers in advanced Field Engineering at Ramp.

She played a foundational role in this field before its widespread expansion and transformation into a primary driver of the industry. At Ramp, which is currently valued at $32 billion, Noon holds a prominent position that has allowed her to witness and adapt to the radical shifts in software development methodologies.

U.S. President Donald Trump is ready to "unleash hell" if Iran does not accept a deal to end the nearly four-week Middle East war, the White House warned Wednesday, but a defiant Tehran said it did not intend to negotiate.

The ramped-up rhetoric dashed hopes of any imminent de-escalation as violence on the ground showed no sign of abating, with Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all coming under fire.

Wall Street shot higher and global oil futures tumbled Monday after President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz and said the U.S. would hold off on strikes against Iranian power plants and other energy infrastructure for five days.

Trump's post on social media about the strikes came as the war with Iran enters its fourth week. Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 2.6% before the opening bell. Oil prices also immediately reversed course, sinking as much as 10%. Benchmark U.S. crude slid $8.23 to $90 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, tumbled $9.02 to $103.17 a barrel.

Countries in Asia are scrambling to conserve energy and protect consumers as the war on Iran and attacks on gas fields and oil refineries disrupt critical supplies, rattling markets and driving up prices.

The crisis is hitting Asia hardest because of its heavy reliance on imported energy, much of which is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, a key choke point now under strain. Only about 90 vessels — mostly Indian, Pakistani and Chinese-flagged — have made it through the strait since the beginning of Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran, and Iran's strikes against Israel and Gulf Arab neighbors, on Feb. 28.

Iran intensified its attacks on oil and gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday, dramatically raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves through the global economy.

The strikes, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a key Iranian gas field, sent fuel prices soaring and risked drawing Iran's Arab neighbors directly into the conflict. Tehran's targeting of energy production further stressed global supply already under pressure because of Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.

European leaders doubled down Thursday on refusing to join the United States and Israel military campaigns in the Middle East as they met in Brussels to grapple with rising oil and gas prices caused by the war.

European leaders have deflected entreaties from U.S. President Donald Trump to send military assets to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the global flow of oil, gas and fertilizer. However, rising energy prices because of the war and fears in Europe of a new refugee crisis have pushed leaders to make the Middle East a priority at the summit.

Iran's military said it would target energy infrastructure across the Gulf following a U.S.-Israeli attack on its facilities at a major gas field, state television reported on Wednesday.

The escalating war with Iran is pushing parts of the world into energy triage, forcing governments to choose where to cut demand or absorb costs, while prioritizing dwindling supplies.

Asia is the most exposed since it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of it shipped through the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz. The narrow passage offshore from Iran is the main route for shipping a fifth of global trade in crude oil and liquified natural gas.

NATO allies and other Western nations pushed back Monday on U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that military alliance members help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical conduit for crude oil Iran has effectively closed.

After being forced to flee with his family from Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon, Hussein Fakih searched in vain for an apartment, amid strict measures imposed by hotels and landlords afraid that guests might be targeted by Israel.