The world is an amazing, terrifying, and wonderful place. And while word-merchants do their best to report the state of the planet to you as best they can, nothing describes a situation with the impact and immediacy of a good photograph. Gleaned from news streams, our social network feeds, and television, here’s a look at some of the top stories from yesterday, in pictures.

1.  Touch Bionics, a Scottish technology company has provided the first bionic hand to teenager Patrick Kane. Kane, who is 16 lost his arm and leg as a baby, but has had mobility and dexterity restored with the i-limb ulta revolution hand. The hand is controlled using an iPhone app.

2. An activist holds up a colourful umbrella’s during a rally outside the Colombian Congress, where lawmakers are expected to vote after the second round of four debates on legalizing same-sex marriage.

3. Tuesday saw the legalization of gay marriage in France. Violent protests against the legal amendment sprang up in Paris, where police responded with teargas and staunch crowd control measures.

4. Tragedy struck when an eight-story building collapsed within a few minutes on Wednesday in Dhaka, Bangladesh. According to the BBC, over 1,000 people were injured. The death total stands at 127. In the photo below, a Bangladeshi firefighter saves a woman injured in the collapse.  

[Source:TheTimes, Metro,BBC,Telegraph]