RICHARD BRANSON - GABRIEL TAKES ELDERS TO THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS

GABRIEL TAKES ELDERS TO THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS

Music mogul RICHARD BRANSON has opened up his hotel in the Atlas Mountains for top secret world leaders group The Elders - and group member PETER GABRIEL insists the cool air helped him and other great minds solve a host of global issues.
Branson's Moroccan hotel, Kasbah Tamadot, hosted last month's Elders meeting and the rocker insists the chill in the air and the beautiful location helped him and great thinkers including Desmond Tutu and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter get creative.
He says, "I have a theory about cool air in that it is quite useful for brain activity - computers run faster when they're cold, and I think our brains do as well.
"I remember when we spent time in Senegal, I would sit sometimes in the heat, which was so intense, I would have a towel on my head, fill it with ice... I would freeze the towel. It wasn't truly effective.
"That was when I started to think about heat and creativity and productivity."
Gabriel insists the latest Elders summit was a great success as world leaders and great thinkers came together to discuss religion and its part in suppressing women's rights.
The former Genesis star is so convinced The Elders is a worthwhile idea, he plans to donate the $126,000 (£84,000) he'll receive next month (Aug09) when he is awarded the 2009 Polar Music Prize in Sweden.
Gabriel helped establish The Elders with Branson to solve global problems.