It was the year of the Maidan and MH370, Ebola and ISIL, or is it ISIS?

Behind a plethora of acronyms and numbers, world news stories of the past 12 months reflected some of the most turbulent times in years.

Within weeks of the year's start the two regions that would dominate much of the headlines in 2014, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, were already making news.

Islamic militants belonging to a group called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) made their initial mark on the headlines by taking control of Falluja in Iraq.

As the group's military and territorial gains grew so too did their barbarism. Among the hostages beheaded at the jihadists hands were American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. Almost always these grisly deaths were recorded on video. Ever present too was their 'executioner' - murderer, a man reported to be a British national who was to be dubbed 'Jihadi John.'

As the killings continued, so commentators and political leaders struggled to agree on a consistent name for these jihadists. In the end most settled for the Islamic State (IS) even if President Barack Obama and other Western leaders steadfastly refused to use the term for fear of giving the jihadists kudos for creating the caliphate they boasted of. For such leaders they would always be ISIL -Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Meanwhile around the beginning of the year in Africa, Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria were issuing legislation banning same-sex marriage and imposing other draconian punishments on gay and lesbian people.

For Africa it was only the start of what was to be troubled year. Still in Nigeria, Boko Haram militants shocked the world by kidnapping more than 270 teenage girls from a boarding school in Chibok. News from West Africa was to have even more global resonance though when in March the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, issued its initial announcement of an Ebola outbreak in Guinea. Liberia and Sierra Leone soon followed and with no respect for borders this terrible disease was soon making its mark across the globe.

In far off Europe, a political crisis of a very different nature was brewing. Its focus the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, where public protests in Maidan "Independence Square" demanded closer European integration. The television pictures of events were startling in their drama and eventually Ukraine's parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office. This did not go down well in Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin seeing Western interference at play. It would not be long though before the Kremlin exacted its revenge, as Putin signed an annexation pact with the Prime Minister of Crimea bringing the region into Moscow's fold.

All this would only serve to inflame eastern Ukraine as pro-Russian separatists increasingly waged war against the government in Kiev. The casualties mounted in cities and town like Donetsk and Sloviansk and the world became embroiled, outraged and saddened when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in eastern Ukraine after allegedly being shot down by a surface-to-air missile killing all 298 people aboard many of them Dutch nationals.

The tragedy was the second of 2014 for Malaysia Airlines who some months earlier saw its flight MH370 travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappear from radar in airspace over the Gulf of Thailand. Even now rumours of terrorist plots and conspiracy theories persist and neither the aircraft or any remains of its victims have yet been found.

Back in the Middle East, the people of Gaza, no strangers to suffering, were exposed to one of the worst Israeli military onslaughts ever as the Jewish state launched what it dubbed 'Operation Protective Edge' in response it said to Palestinian rocket attacks. Gaza was left devastated and thousands died, the vast majority Gazans.

While the Middle East and Africa made most of the headlines, other places too saw dramatic events unfold. In the Far East military leaders staged a coup in Thailand and Pro-democracy protests began in Hong Kong. In Mexico special forces captured Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, alleged head of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel.

The world saw no shortage too of shifts in power and leadership. India named Narendra Modi as the country's new prime minister, while Egypt saw Abdel Fattah el-Sisi officially win Egypt's presidential election. King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicated while Haider al-Abadi was sworn in as the new prime minister of Iraq. In Afghanistan too where British forces wound down their military presence Ashraf Ghani replaced Hamid Karzai as president.

The world watched fixated by the trial of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of culpable homicide in the death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

And as if harking back to another era dozens of US cities saw protests over the decision not to charge a white policeman who killed a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

But in a change to times past US President Barack Obama announced plans to normalise diplomatic relations with Cuba,

Far and away though it was the spectre of international Islamic inspired terrorism that dominated the world news last year. From Ottawa in Canada to Sydney Australia or Peshawar in Pakistan the 'lone wolf' terrorist or organised bands of Taliban took their toll on the civilian population.

Amid all this gloom was there anything to be upbeat about? Well, Pharrell Williams song 'Happy' though originally released in 2013 sold 12 million copies worldwide by the summer of 2014.

It was a cheery, feel good tune, unless of course you happened to appear dancing to it in a video in Iran, as six young Iranians found to their cost. As for what lies ahead in 2015, well we always have the antics of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to look forward to.