Italian diplomat Filippo Grandi will be the new head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday, according to dpa. Grandi was in charge of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in 2010-14, and previously served in UN posts in Africa, Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey. At UNHCR, he will replace Portuguese ex-premier Antonio Guterres, who was first appointed to lead the Geneva-based agency in 2005.