$args = array(
        'post_type'              => array( 'post' ),
        'post_status'            => array( 'publish' ),
        'posts_per_page'         => '9',
    );

    $query = new WP_Query( $args );

    if ( $query->have_posts() ) {
        while ( $query->have_posts() ) {
            $query->the_post();
            $postdate = get_the_date('F j, Y');

                $posts .= '<div class="row">
                                <div class="post-single">
                                    <div class="thumb" style="background:url('.wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id( $post->ID ), 'large' )[0].');"></div>
                                    <div class="title">
                                        <a href="'.get_the_permalink().'">
                                            <h4 class="news-title">'.get_the_title().'</h4>
                                        </a>
                                        <div class="post-details">
                                            <i class="fa fa-calendar" aria-hidden="true"></i> '.$postdate.' <span class="divider">|</span> ';
                                            foreach((get_the_category()) as $category) {
                                                    $posts .= '<span class="category-badge">'. $category->cat_name .'</span>';
                                                }

                                        $posts .= '</div>
                                    </div>
                                    <div class="excerpt">'.get_the_excerpt().'</div>
                                </div>
                           </div>';


        }
    } else {
        $posts .= 'Sorry, we were not able to find any News Updates that you have access to.';
    }