  Measurements of the angles and sides of the unitarity triangle and of the
rates of rare B meson decays are crucial for the precise determination of
Standard Model parameters and are sensitive to the presence of new physics
particles in the loop diagrams. In this paper the recent measurements performed
in this area by Babar and Belle will be presented. The direct measurement of
the angle alpha is for the first time as precise as the indirect determination.
The precision of the V_ub determination has improved significantly with respect
to previous measurement. New limits on B->tau nu decays are presented, as well
as updated measurements on b->s radiative transitions and a new observation of
b->d gamma transition made by Belle.
