Genome study reveals milestone in history of cat domestication

[Igel]

21. No, actually they're quite clear that they're not.

At least not in the sense of claiming that "cat domestication" happened only in Europe. But they do date the timing of "cat domestication in Europe", which is quite a different thing. It's the difference between claiming the origin of the specie's domestication versus timing when domestication was introduced into Europe.

... It was a separate dispersal from North Africa about two centuries later that formed the genetic basis of the modern domestic cat in Europe.
The study's findings suggest that there was not a single core region of cat domestication, but that several regions and cultures in North Africa played a role, according to zooarchaeologist and study co-author Bea De Cupere of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences....
The earliest domestic cat in Europe identified in the study - one genetically similar to present-day domestic cats - dated to between 50 BC and 80 AD from the Austrian town of Mautern, site of a Roman fort along the Danube River.
The study, however, does not unravel the timing and location of the initial feline domestication.
"Cat domestication is complex," Ottoni said, "and what we can tell now is the timing of the introduction of domestic cats to Europe from North Africa. We can't really say much what happened before and where."

Then there's another competing study that looks at North Africa:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq8dvdp9gn7o

The contribution of which seems to strongly move the locus of early domestication away from Arabia and adjacent areas to North Africa--probably Egypt, but given trade routes you can't really rule out Cyrenica.