  The study of charmless two-body decays of B mesons is currently one of the
hottest topics in B physics. QCD factorization provides the theoretical
framework for a systematic analysis of such decays. A global fit to B->pi K,pi
pi branching fractions, combined with knowledge on |V(ub)|, establishes the
existence of a CP-violating phase in the bottom sector of the CKM matrix and
tends to favor values of gamma near 90 degrees, somewhat larger than those
suggested by the standard analysis of the unitarity triangle. A novel
construction of the unitarity triangle is presented, which is independent of
B-B(bar) and K-K(bar) mixing. It can provide stringent tests of the Standard
Model with small theoretical uncertainties.
