Measurements of branching fractions in B ->phi K and B ->phi pi and search for direct CP violation in B-+/-->phi K-+/-

We present measurements of branching fractions in the b-->s (s) over bars penguin-dominated decays B+-->phiK(+) and B-0-->phiK(0) in a sample of approximately 89 million B (B) over bar pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B-meson factory at SLAC. We determine B(B+-->phiK(+))=(10.0(-0.8)(+0.9)+/-0.5)x10(-6) and B(B-0-->phiK(0))=(8.4(-1.3)(+1.5)+/-0.5)x10(-6). Additionally, we measure the CP-violating charge asymmetry A(CP)(B+/--->phiK(+/-))=0.04+/-0.09+/-0.01, with a 90% confidence-level interval of [-0.10, 0.18], and set an upper limit on the CKM- and color-suppressed decay B+-->phipi(+), B(B+-->phipi(+))<0.41x10(-6) (at the 90% confidence level).