I figured it out, had a lot of syntax issues and open php tags.
<?php
// the query
$the_query = new WP_Query(array(
'category_name' => 'local-news',
'post_status' => 'publish',
'posts_per_page' => 5,
));
?>
<?php if ($the_query->have_posts()) : ?>
<?php while ($the_query->have_posts()) : $the_query >the_post(); ?>
<div class="card-body pb-0">
<div class="latest_news_cont">
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
<?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
</a>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
<h5>
<?php the_title(); ?>
</h5>
</a>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" class="readmore_news">Read more</a></p>
<br>
</div>
</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
<?php else : ?>
<p><?php __('No News'); ?></p>
<?php endif; ?>