Some of the code you have in here is really outdated and has been deprecated for quite some time. I am going to use updated code so that it’s more useful to those who will stumble on this thread.
<div class="news_item">
<?php
$posts = get_posts( 'numberposts=2&order=DESC&orderby=post_title&category_name=news' );
foreach ( $posts as $post ) : setup_postdata($post); ?>
<?php toolbox_posted_on();
//Check if post has thumbnail
if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) :
//Output img tag automatically
the_post_thumbnail();
//Output
?>
<?php endif; ?>
<h4>
<a href="https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/179548/<?php the_permalink() ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>">
<?php the_title() ; ?></a>
</h4>
<?php endforeach;
wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
</div>
<a href="#" class="btn blue">Read All News</a>
Your CSS
.news_item {
float: left;
padding: 5px;
width: 33.33%;
}